The Red Lily

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The Red Lily
Directed by Fred Niblo
Written byFred Niblo
Bess Meredyth
Produced byFred Niblo
Starring Ramon Novarro
Enid Bennett
Cinematography Victor Milner
Edited by Lloyd Nosler
Distributed by Metro-Goldwyn
Release date
  • September 8, 1924 (1924-09-08)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

The Red Lily is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Fred Niblo and starring Ramon Novarro, Enid Bennett, and Wallace Beery. [1] According to the Library of Congress, a print of the film exists. [2]

Contents

Plot

Outside the town of Vivonne, France, Marise La Noue, a cobbler's daughter, and Jean Leonnec, the son of Mayor Hugo Leonnec, are childhood sweethearts in love. A man arrives at the City Hall to inform the Mayor that Marise's father has died. Marise arrives at the shop shortly after, and mourns her father's death. Less than a week, Marise leaves the cobble shop impoverished and alone, with the shop now owned by her next of kin. While traveling on the road, Marise arrives at a cottage where she meets a family having dinner. The father drives Marise out of his home and into a thunderstorm. Back at the City Hall, Jean tells his father he will marry Marise when he is of age.

That same night, Marise arrives at an abandoned home. The door opens, and Jean and Marise are reunited. They cuddle together near a fire, while being observed by nearby neighbors. They stay together overnight, where Marise asks Jean not to go back to his father. Mayor Leonnec arrives and finds the couple together. He asks Marise to leave town, but Jean decides to stay with her. The couple then leave to go to Paris. Back in Vivonne, Mayor Leonnec discovers that money has been stolen from his treasury safe, and accuses his son of being a thief. When they arrive in Paris, Jean leaves Marise to find out where they get married. However, Jean is arrested by detectives and is taken back to Vivonne.

Marise waits patiently for Jean but he doesn't return. Hours later, Jean escape the detectives and races back to Paris, but he finds Marise is no longer there. Back in Vivonne, detectives apprehend the real culprit. Thinking he is a wanted fugitive, Jean meets Bo-Bo, a clever pickpocket, along the Seine. Jean tells Bo-Bo about his search for Marise, whom he describes as an angel. Bo-Bo takes a strong liking to Jean, and teaches him how to become a thief.

Months pass, and Jean is a wanted fugitive while Marise finds employment at a factory. There, her employer makes a sexual advance towards her, but she refuses. Meanwhile, at the Bouchards' bar, Nana, a prostitute, flirts with Jean but he ignores her. Sometime later, Marise is out of work again after the factory closes down. Time passes, and Marise is dressed in fine clothes now working as a prostitute.

After spotting her at the train station, Jean is reunited with Marise again. Jean takes her to his hideout, but he is shocked at how much she has aged. He strikes her, and wanders alone on the street. There, Jean is nearly arrested by a policeman. Other policemen arrive and shoot at Jean, injuring his arm in the process. Jean returns to Marise, leaving a trail of blood, and hides in a closet. Marise lies to the policemen stating it is her blood after injuring herself. The next morning, Marise nurses Jean's wounds. Afraid of being arrested again, Jean stays with Marise, though he remains in love with her younger state.

Bo-Bo arrives and takes Jean to the Bouchards' bar. There, he welcomes Nana's flirtations, but when Marise arrives, he rejects her. The policemen storm the bar looking for Jean, and accidentally shoot Marise. Jean escapes and travels through the sewers where he evades the police. He returns to the bar where he learns Marise is dying at a nearby hospital. When Jean arrives, he prays for Marise's health to recover. However, he is arrested before he can learn Marise survived. Two years pass, and Marise works as a seamstress. Jean has been released from prison, and reunites with Marise. They travel back to Vivonne, along with Bo-Bo.

Cast

Censorship concerns

The film industry created the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry in 1916 in an effort to preempt censorship by states and municipalities, and it used a list of subjects called the "Thirteen Points" which film plots were to avoid. However, prostitution was not explicitly barred so long as it was not forcible (i.e., white slavery), and aspects of the prostitute’s work were not present in the film. [3]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Red Lily". Silent Era. Archived from the original on June 30, 2024. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
  2. ↑ "The Red Lily". American Silent Feature Film Survival Database. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  3. ↑ Campbell, Russell (1997). "Prostitution and Film Censorship in the USA" . Screening the Past (2): C/6. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
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