The Phantom Melody

Last updated

The Phantom Melody
The Phantom Melody (1920) lobby card.jpg
Directed by Douglas Gerrard
Screenplay by F. McGrew Willis
Starring Monroe Salisbury
Henry A. Barrows
Ray Gallagher
Charles West
Jean Calhoun
Cinematography Roy H. Klaffki
Distributed by Universal Film Manufacturing Company
Release date
  • January 27, 1920 (1920-01-27)
Running time
66 minutes [1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Phantom Melody is a 1920 American silent drama film directed by Douglas Gerrard, and starring Monroe Salisbury, Henry A. Barrows, Ray Gallagher, Charles West and Jean Calhoun. The film was released by Universal Film Manufacturing Company on January 27, 1920. [2] [3] [4] The film's "premature burial" plotline tilts it in the direction of being a horror film as well as a melodrama. [5] Director Gerrard emigrated to Hollywood from Ireland in 1913 to become an actor, but quickly gravitated to film directing in 1916 with his The Price of Victory, but gave up directing soon after filming The Phantom Melody. [6]

Contents

Plot

A wealthy count named Camello is in love with Mary Drake, but his cousin Gregory Baldi is also pursuing her. World War 2 breaks out, and Gregory is thought to have been killed in action. The Count succeeds in getting Mary to marry him, but on the eve of their wedding, Gregory returns home alive. Seeking to rid himself of his rival, Gregory buries Camello alive in an underground vault. Camello manages to get free and engages Gregory in a deadly duel.

Cast

Preservation

The film is now considered lost. [7]

Related Research Articles

The following is an overview of 1924 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The following is an overview of 1923 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The following is an overview of 1921 in film, including significant events, a list of films released and notable births and deaths.

The year 1920 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1916 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1915 in film involved some significant events.

1913 was a particularly fruitful year for film as an art form, and is often cited one of the years in the decade which contributed to the medium the most, along with 1917. The year was one where filmmakers of several countries made great artistic advancements, producing notable pioneering masterpieces such as The Student of Prague, Suspense, Atlantis, Raja Harischandra, Juve contre Fantomas, Quo Vadis?, Ingeborg Holm, The Mothering Heart, Ma l’amor mio non muore!, L’enfant de Paris and Twilight of a Woman's Soul.

The year 1912 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1911 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1910 in film involved some significant events.

L'Homme qui vendit son âme au diable is a 1921 French silent film comedy directed by Pierre Caron. The plot was similar to Faust and The Student of Prague, about a man who makes a diabolical deal with the Devil.

Au Secours! is a 1924 short French silent comedy film directed by Abel Gance and starring Max Linder. The French title translates into English as "Help!". The film is also known as The Haunted House in some reference books. The film was made on a dare, with Gance filming the entire project in three days, with the help of his friend, actor Max Linder. Linder had just returned to France after several years of trying to start an acting career in Canada.

The Other Person is a 1921 Dutch-British silent mystery film directed by Maurits Binger and B.E. Doxat-Pratt. It was a co-production between a Dutch film company and a British film company.

Esmeralda is a 1922 British silent film and an adaptation of the 1831 novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo, with more emphasis on the character on Esmeralda rather than Quasimodo. It was directed by Edwin J. Collins and starred Sybil Thorndike as Esmeralda and Booth Conway as the hunchback. The film is considered lost, but extant still photos show a 40-year-old Thorndike who appears to be too old for the role of the young and virginal Esmeralda. This version emphasized romance and melodrama over horror.

Harry Agar Lyons was an Irish-born British actor. He was born in Cork, Ireland in 1878 and died in Wandsworth, London, England in 1944 at age 72.

Lord Arthur Saville's Crime is a 1920 Hungarian silent crime film directed by Pál Fejös and starring Ödön Bárdi, Lajos Gellért and Margit Lux. It was also released as both Mark of the Phantom and Lidercnyomas. The film was based on the 1891 short story Lord Arthur Savile's Crime by Oscar Wilde. It was one of Pal Fejos' earliest films and is now considered lost. It was photographed by Jozsef Karban.

The Grinning Face, aka The Man Who Laughs, is a 1921 Austrian-German silent horror film directed by Julius Herska and starring Franz Höbling, Nora Gregor and Lucienne Delacroix. It is an adaptation of the 1869 novel The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo.

<i>The Count of Cagliostro</i> 1920 Austrian silent horror film

The Count of Cagliostro is a 1920 Austrian silent horror film directed and co-written by Reinhold Schünzel and starring Schünzel, Anita Berber and Conrad Veidt. It depicts the life of the eighteenth century Italian mesmerist and occultist Alessandro Cagliostro. The film's art direction was by Oscar Werndorff and Carl Hoffmann handled the cinematography. Some sources list this film as a German production. It is today considered a lost film, and little is known about it. It is listed simply as Cagliostro in some film references.

The Monster of Frankenstein was a 1920 Italian silent horror film, produced by Luciano Albertini, directed by Eugenio Testa, starring Luciano Albertini, Aldo Mezzanotte and Umberto Guarracino, and is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. It was one of a very few Italian horror films produced in the silent era since after Benito Mussolini seized control of the country, horror films were strictly forbidden. The Mary Shelley novel had been filmed twice before during the silent era, as Thomas Edison's Frankenstein (1910) and as Life Without Soul (1915).

The Lost Shadow is a 1921 German silent film directed by Rochus Gliese and starring Paul Wegener, Wilhelm Bendow and Adele Sandrock. The cinematographer was Karl Freund. The film's sets were designed by the art director Kurt Richter. It was shot at the Tempelhof Studios in Berlin. For some reason, the film was only released in the US in 1928. It is today considered a lost film.

References

  1. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 229. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  2. "The Phantom Melody". afi.com. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  3. "The Phantom Melody". AllMovie. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  4. "The Phantom Melody". TCM.com. Retrieved December 21, 2017.
  5. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 229. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  6. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 229. ISBN   978-1936168-68-2.
  7. American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Phantom Melody