The Third Degree (1919 film)

Last updated
The Third Degree
The Third Degree (1919) poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Tom Terriss
Written byPhil Lang (scenario)
Eugene Mullin (scenario)
Based onThe Third Degree, a Play in Four Acts
by Charles Klein
Produced by Albert E. Smith
J. Stuart Blackton
Starring Alice Joyce
CinematographyJoe Shelderfer
Edited byGeorge Randolph Chester
Mrs. George Randolph Chester
Distributed by Vitagraph Company of America
Release date
  • May 19, 1919 (1919-05-19)(United States)
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Third Degree is a 1919 American silent crime drama directed by Tom Terriss produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It is based on the 1909 play of the same name by Charles Klein. [1]

Contents

Filmed several times throughout the silent era, this version starred Alice Joyce with actress/gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in a supporting role and was the next to last silent version of the play, the last being released in 1926 starring Dolores Costello. The Third Degree is now considered to be a lost film. [2] [3]

Plot

As described in a film magazine, [4] Howard Jeffries, Sr. (Randolf) marries again, and the film reveals that the new Mrs. Howard Jeffries, Sr. (Hopper) and Robert Underwood (Evans), the rather fast college roommate of Howard Jeffries, Jr. (James), had been more than just friends. Howard Jr. marries Annie Sands (Joyce), who had been a lovely waitress in the college town. When the father hears who the bride is, there is a flare up and the young couple leaves the house. Underwood opens a curio store, but loses money that does not belong to him. He writes to Mrs. Jeffries, Sr. and says that if she does not come to him, he will shoot himself. Howard Jr. remembers that Underwood owes him some money and goes to collect it, but there gets drunk and passes out on the sofa. Underwood hides him, and Mrs. Jeffries, Sr. arrives and tells Underwood that she will have nothing to do with him. After she leaves, Underwood shoots and kills himself. This sound awakes Howard Jr., who is captured by the police and, under the hypnotic strain of the third degree, confesses to murder. When it is learned that a young woman had called on Underwood, the police try to pin the crime on Annie. She suspects that it was the other Mrs. Jeffries, and gets her to provide evidence to show that it was a suicide, but, to protect her fellow relative, Annie allows the police to believe that she had made the visit. After the trial, Howard, Sr. still wants to end his son's marriage on the sly, but a lawyer who is a family friend convinces Mrs. Jeffries, Sr. to confess to her husband, and the family conflicts are resolved.

Cast

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alice Joyce</span> American actress (1890–1955)

Alice Joyce Brown was an American actress who appeared in more than 200 films during the 1910s and 1920s. She is known for her roles in the 1923 film The Green Goddess and its 1930 remake of the same name.

<i>The Drop Kick</i> 1927 film

The Drop Kick is a 1927 silent film directed by Millard Webb, adapted from the novel Glitter (1925) by Katherine Brush, about a college football player. It was one of the early films of John Wayne who was only aged 20 in the film. He too played a college footballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anders Randolf</span> Danish–American actor

Anders Randolf was a Danish American actor in American films from 1913 to 1930.

<i>High Society Blues</i> 1930 film

High Society Blues is a 1930 American pre-Code film starring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell. The movie was written by Howard J. Green from the story by Dana Burnett, and directed by David Butler.

<i>Stella Dallas</i> (1925 film) 1925 film

Stella Dallas is a 1925 American silent drama film that was produced by Samuel Goldwyn, adapted by Frances Marion, and directed by Henry King. The film stars Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Lois Moran, Alice Joyce, Jean Hersholt, and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Prints of the film survive in several film archives.

<i>Beauty for Sale</i> 1933 film

Beauty for Sale is a 1933 American pre-Code film about the romantic entanglements of three beauty salon employees. Based on the 1933 novel Beauty by Faith Baldwin, it stars Madge Evans, Alice Brady, Otto Kruger and Una Merkel.

<i>Sherlock Holmes</i> (1922 film) 1922 film by Albert Parker

Sherlock Holmes is a 1922 American silent mystery drama film starring John Barrymore as Sherlock Holmes, Roland Young as Dr. John Watson and Gustav von Seyffertitz as Moriarty.

<i>The Last of Mrs. Cheyney</i> (1929 film) 1929 film

The Last of Mrs. Cheyney is a 1929 American Pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Sidney Franklin. The screenplay by Hanns Kräly is based on the 1925 play of the same name by Frederick Lonsdale which ran on Broadway for 385 performances. The film was remade twice, with the same title in 1937 and as The Law and the Lady in 1951.

<i>The Third Degree</i> (1926 film) 1926 film by Michael Curtiz

The Third Degree is a 1926 American silent romance film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and directed by Michael Curtiz, in his first American film, Starring Dolores Costello, it is based on the hit 1909 play of the same name written by Charles Klein that starred Helen Ware.

<i>The Racketeer</i> 1929 film

The Racketeer is a 1929 American Pre-Code drama film. Directed by Howard Higgin, the film is also known as Love's Conquest in the United Kingdom. It tells the tale of some members of the criminal class in 1920s America, and in particular one man and one woman's attempts to help him. Gossip columnist Hedda Hopper appears in a minor role. The film is one of the early talkies, and as a result, dialogue is very sparse.

<i>The Snob</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by Monta Bell

The Snob is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Monta Bell. The film starred Norma Shearer and John Gilbert, together with Phyllis Haver, Conrad Nagel, and Hedda Hopper. The film was written by Monta Bell, and was based on the novel The Snob: The Story of a Marriage by Helen Reimensnyder Martin.

<i>By Right of Purchase</i> 1918 American film

By Right of Purchase is a 1918 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge in a story produced by her husband Joseph Schenck. The film was distributed by Lewis J. Selznick's Select Pictures company. An up-and-coming actress and soon to be gossip columnist Hedda Hopper has a small role in this picture.

<i>The Isle of Conquest</i> 1919 film

The Isle of Conquest is a 1919 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge and produced by Talmadge and her husband Joseph Schenck. The film is now considered lost.

<i>Virtuous Wives</i> 1918 American film

Virtuous Wives is a lost 1918 American silent drama film directed by George Loane Tucker, and stars Anita Stewart. Future gossip columnist Hedda Hopper co-starred. Based on the novel of the same name by Owen Johnson, the film was produced Anita Stewart's, production company. It was also the first film produced by Louis B. Mayer.

Let Us Be Gay is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film produced and distributed by MGM. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard and stars Norma Shearer. It was based on and filmed concurrently with the 1929 play by Rachel Crothers which starred Tallulah Bankhead and ran for 128 performances at London's Lyric Theater. Critics generally preferred Tallulah's rendition to Shearer's.

<i>The Inner Chamber</i> 1921 film

The Inner Chamber is a 1921 American silent romantic drama film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was based on the novel The Blood Red Dawn by Charles Caldwell Dobie. The film was directed by Edward José and starred Alice Joyce. The film is now considered lost.

<i>The Lion and the Mouse</i> (1919 film) 1919 film by Tom Terriss

The Lion and the Mouse is a lost 1919 American silent drama film produced and released by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by Tom Terriss and based on the famous Charles Klein play. Alice Joyce starred in the film.

<i>The Spark Divine</i> 1919 film by Tom Terriss

The Spark Divine is a 1919 American silent drama film, starring Alice Joyce, that was directed by Tom Terriss and produced and distributed by Vitagraph Company of America. This is now considered to be a lost film.

<i>One Woman to Another</i> 1927 film

One Woman to Another is a lost 1927 American silent comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle and written by J.L. Campbell and George Marion Jr. based upon a play by Frances Nordstrom. The film stars Florence Vidor, Theodore von Eltz, Marie Shotwell, Hedda Hopper, Roy Stewart and Joyce Coad. The film was released on September 17, 1927, by Paramount Pictures.

The Third Degree is a lost 1913 silent film melodrama directed by Barry O'Neil and produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company. It was based on the 1909 Broadway play by Charles Klein.

References

  1. White Munden, Kenneth, ed. (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog Of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921–1930, Part 1. University of California Press. p. 799. ISBN   0-520-20969-9.
  2. Progressive Silent Film List: The Third Degree at silentera.com
  3. The Third Degree at the Unsung Divas website
  4. Judson, Hanford C. (May 17, 1919). "Reviews and Advertising Aids: The Third Degree". Moving Picture World. New York City: Chalmers Publishing Company. 40 (7): 1073–74. Retrieved 2014-09-07.