Under Two Flags (1867) was a best-selling novel by Ouida. [1] The most famous of her books, it tells the story of an English aristocrat, apparently in disgrace, who disappears and joins a French battalion in Algeria, loosely based on the Foreign Legion.
The novel is about The Hon. Bertie Cecil (nicknamed Beauty of the Brigades). [2] [3]
In financial distress because of his own profligacy and the loss of an important horse-race on which he has bet extensively, and falsely accused of forgery, but unable to defend himself against the charge without injuring the "honour" of a lady and also exposing his younger brother (the real culprit), Cecil fakes his own death and exiles himself to Algeria where he joins the Chasseurs d'Afrique , a regiment comprising soldiers from various countries, rather like the French Foreign Legion.
After Cecil's great childhood friend and the friend's beautiful sister show up in Africa, and after a series of melodramatic self-sacrifices by Cecil and by the young girl Cigarette, a "child of the Army" who sacrifices her life saving Cecil from a firing squad, the main conflicts are resolved and the surviving characters return to England to fortune, title, and love.
The book has also served as a basis for a number of stage and film adaptations.
Maria Louise Ramé, going by the name Marie Louise de la Ramée and known by the pseudonym Ouida, was an English novelist. Ouida wrote more than 40 novels, as well as short stories, children's books and essays. Moderately successful, she lived a life of luxury, entertaining many of the literary figures of the day.
Robert William Chambers was an American artist and fiction writer, best known for his book of short stories titled The King in Yellow, published in 1895.
William Tufnell Le Queux was an Anglo-French journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat, a traveller, a flying buff who officiated at the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally available; his claims regarding his own abilities and exploits, however, were usually exaggerated. His best-known works are the anti-French and anti-Russian invasion fantasy The Great War in England in 1897 (1894) and the anti-German invasion fantasy The Invasion of 1910 (1906), the latter becoming a bestseller.
Frank William George Lloyd was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president from 1934 to 1935.
Herbert Brenon was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through 1940.
James Cruze was a silent film actor and film director.
James Gordon Edwards was a Canadian-born film director, producer, and writer who began his career as a stage actor and stage director.
Under Two Flags is a 1936 American adventure romance film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Ronald Colman, Claudette Colbert, Victor McLaglen, and Rosalind Russell. The picture was based on the 1867 novel of the same name by the writer Ouida. The film was widely popular with audiences of its time. The supporting cast features Nigel Bruce, John Carradine, and Fritz Leiber.
Ouida Bergère was an American screenwriter and actress.
George Nichols, sometimes credited in films as George O. Nicholls, was an American actor and film director. He is perhaps best remembered for his work at Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios.
Under Two Flags may refer to:
Under Two Flags is a 1922 American drama film directed by Tod Browning and starring Priscilla Dean. The picture was one of several films based upon the 1867 novel Under Two Flags by Ouida and subsequent stage play version by Arthur Shirley.
Robert Frazer was an American actor who appeared in some 224 shorts and films from the 1910s until his death. He began in films with the Eclair company which released through Universal Pictures.
Under Two Flags is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by J. Gordon Edwards and starring Theda Bara. It was the second adaptation of the best selling 1867 novel Under Two Flags by Ouida and the subsequent stage play version by Arthur Shirley. The film is now considered to be lost.
The Eternal City is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice, from a script by Ouida Bergère based on the 1901 Hall Caine novel of the same name, and starring Barbara La Marr, Lionel Barrymore, and Bert Lytell.
Henry Hamilton was an English playwright, lyricist and actor. He is best remembered for his musical theatre libretti, including The Duchess of Dantzic (1903), The School Girl (1903), Véronique (1905) and The Little Michus (1907), often adapting foreign works for the British stage.
Blanche Walsh was a highly regarded American stage actress who appeared in one film, Resurrection based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy and the first three reel treatment of any Tolstoy story.
J. W. Johnston was an Irish American stage and film actor who started as a supporting actor and, briefly, leading man in the 1910s and early 1920s, continued as a character performer from the mid-1920s, and ended as an unbilled bit player during the 1930s and 1940s. He was also an early member of Cecil B. DeMille's repertory company of actors, appearing in five of the director's features released between July and December 1914. Although J. W. Johnston was his most frequent billing, other appellations included J. W. Johnson, Jack W. Johnson, Jack Johnson, F. W. Johnston, John W. Johnston, Jack Johnston, Jack W. Johnston and Jack Johnstone.
Henrietta Elizabeth Spiers was a British costume designer for the theatre and silent films, a screenwriter, and an author. Columbia University's Women Film Pioneers Project counts her among those on its list of 'Unhistoricized Women Film Pioneers'.
Under Two Flags is a play in five acts by Paul M. Potter. It is based on the 1867 Engliish novel of the same name by Ouida. It premiered at Broadway's Garden Theatre on February 5, 1901. It closed in June 1901 after 135 performances. The original production was produced by Charles Frohman and David Belasco. Belasco also directed the play which starred Campbell Gollan as the Marquis of Chateauroy, Francis Carlyle as Bertie Cecil, and Blanche Bates as Cigarette.
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