Victory | |
---|---|
Directed by | Maurice Tourneur |
Screenplay by | Jules Furthman (credited as Stephen Fox) |
Based on | Victory by Joseph Conrad |
Produced by | Maurice Tourneur Productions |
Starring | Jack Holt Seena Owen Lon Chaney Wallace Beery |
Cinematography | René Guissart |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures (as Paramount-Artcraft) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 62 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Victory is a surviving [1] 1919 American action film directed by Maurice Tourneur and starring Jack Holt, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney, Wallace Beery and Bull Montana. The film is an adaptation of the 1915 eponymous novel by Joseph Conrad (the only film adaptation of one of his works that he ever lived to see). The screenplay was written by Jules Furthman and Ben Carré was the art director.
The film was chosen by the New York Times as one of the top ten films of 1919. It was later remade in 1930 as Dangerous Paradise, and again in 1940 as Victory. [2] The film still exists in its complete form in the Library of Congress and is available on DVD. [3] [4] A lobby card exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of Ricardo. [5]
Axel Heyst (Holt), a solitary individual, lives by himself on an otherwise deserted island in the South Seas. When he travels to a neighboring island on business, he encounters a pretty young girl named Alma, who is being abused by her boss, Mr. Schomberg, at the hotel where she works. Axel takes pity on the poor girl and helps her to escape with him to his island getaway in a boat, making it plain however that he seeks only a platonic relationship with all other human beings.
When Mr. Schomberg discovers Alma has left him, he sends three horrific criminal types (Mr. Jones, Ricardo and Pedro) after her, tricking them into thinking there is a hidden treasure on Axel's island. The grimacing Ricardo (Lon Chaney) is the evilest of the three, constantly cleaning his fingernails with a long stiletto-type knife. The brutish Pedro (Bull Montana) follows Mr. Jones' orders slavishly, but is unaware that years earlier, Mr. Jones sadistically killed his brother by burning him alive.
The three scoundrels arrive on Axel's island and while he initially extends his hospitality to them, he realizes they are plotting to kill him, rob his house and take Alma away with them. A fight erupts and Axel kills Ricardo by shooting him off the roof of his house. Mr. Jones is killed by Pedro in the same fashion in which he had killed Pedro's brother. Axel and Alma realize their love for each other and decide to get married and live happily on the island.
"The characterization of Lon Chaney as Ricardo and that of Bull Montana as Pedro were especially well handled." ---Wid's Film Daily [6]
"The vividly vicious work of Lon Chaney as Ricardo deserves more than passing mention... In fact, Mr. Chaney may be said to "run away with the play" at certain stages, completely overshadowing his contemporaries." ---Exhibitors Trade Review [7]
"An original and interesting picture, picturesque in detail, splendid types, a refreshing change from the conventional in nearly all respects." ---Moving Picture World [8]
"Maurice Tourneur has created a moving and effective picture drama for Paramount.....Probably the eagle eye of the censor is responsible for cutting the fight between Alma and Ricardo, but it is well cut. Of the latter character, Lon Chaney gave a visualization that was very effective." ---Variety [9]
"The most compelling characters in VICTORY are three roving birds of prey---Mr. Jones, the leader, Ricardo, his secretary, and Pedro, his strong man. The most diabolically conspicuous of the three is Ricardo, played by Lon Chaney...No screen actor whose name comes to mind can equal Mr. Chaney in the impersonation of intense, strongly marked types. He does with consummate skill and fine finish the kind of acting that many attempt with lumbering ponderosity and maladroit exaggeration." ---The New York Times [10]
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and afflicted, characters, and his groundbreaking artistry with makeup. Chaney was known for his starring roles in such silent horror films as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). His ability to transform himself using makeup techniques that he developed, earned him the nickname "The Man of a Thousand Faces".
Victory is a psychological novel by Joseph Conrad first published in 1915, through which Conrad achieved "popular success."
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The Tragedy of Whispering Creek is a 1914 American silent short Western film directed by Allan Dwan and featuring Murdock MacQuarrie, Pauline Bush, and Lon Chaney. Chaney expert Jon Mirsalis says Chaney also wrote the screenplay, based on a story by Elliott J. Clawson, but the Blake book says the film's director Allan Dwan wrote the screenplay himself. A print exists in the Deutsche Kinemathek film archive, making it Chaney's earliest surviving moving picture. A still exists which shows Chaney in his role as "The Greaser".
The Forbidden Room is a 1914 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and featuring Murdock MacQuarrie, Pauline Bush and Lon Chaney. The film's working title was originally The Web of Circumstance. The film is now considered to be lost.
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Her Escape is a 1914 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Pauline Bush. Lon Chaney not only acted in this film, he also wrote the screenplay. The Blake book on Chaney states the film was actually released earlier on December 13, 1914, but all other sources say December 27. The film is now considered to be lost.
The Threads of Fate is a 1915 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse, written by Tom Forman, and featuring Pauline Bush, William C. Dowlan and Lon Chaney. The film is now considered to be a lost film. A still exists showing Lon Chaney made up as "The Count" trying to persuade the heroine of the film to marry him.
Steady Company was a 1915 short silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney and Pauline Bush. It was written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Julius G. Furthman. The film is now considered to be lost.
Dolly's Scoop is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse and featuring Lon Chaney. It was written by Ida May Park, based on a story by Hugh Weir. This was one of the few silent films that subtitled the actors' dialogue at the bottom of the screen, instead of using title cards. Also, this was one of the only Lon Chaney films in which Chaney wound up getting the girl at the end of the picture. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of the reporter, Dan Fisher.
The Grip of Jealousy is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse, written by Ida May Park and starring Lon Chaney and Louise Lovely. It was based upon Ida May Park's story "Love Thine Enemy". The film is today considered lost. Two stills exist showing Lon Chaney in two somewhat different make-ups, one as the character Silas Lacey, and the other as Silas Lacey as an older man.
The Place Beyond the Winds is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by Joe De Grasse, and starring Lon Chaney, Gretchen Lederer and Dorothy Phillips. It was written by Ida May Park, based on the novel by Harriet T. Comstock. The director De Grasse also played a role in the film. The film's original working title was Mansion of Despair. A still exists showing Chaney in the role of Jerry Jo, the homeless man.
Accusing Evidence is a 1916 American silent Western film directed by Allan Dwan and starring Lon Chaney, Pauline Bush and Murdock MacQuarrie.
Riddle Gawne is a 1918 American silent Western film directed by William S. Hart and Lambert Hillyer, and featuring William S. Hart, Katherine MacDonald and Lon Chaney. The film was co-produced by William S. Hart and Thomas H. Ince. The screenplay was written by Charles Alden Seltzer from his earlier novel The Vengeance of Jefferson Gawne. Chaney historian Jon C. Mirsalis claims that William S. Hart contributed greatly to the screenplay but all other sources credit the writing of the screenplay solely to Charles Alden Seltzer.
Treasure Island is a 1920 silent film adaptation of the 1883 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson, directed by Maurice Tourneur, and released by Paramount Pictures. Lon Chaney played two different pirate roles in this production, "Blind Pew" and "Merry", and stills exist showing him in both makeups. Charles Ogle, who had played Frankenstein's Monster in the first filmed version of Frankenstein a decade earlier at Edison Studios, portrayed Long John Silver. Wallace Beery was supposed to play Israel Hands, but that role went to Joseph Singleton instead. The film was chosen as one of the Top Forty Pictures of the Year by the National Board of Review.
Victory is a 1996 French-German drama suspense film written and directed by Mark Peploe and starring Willem Dafoe, Irène Jacob, Sam Neill and Rufus Sewell. It is based on the 1915 novel of the same name by Joseph Conrad.
When Bearcat Went Dry is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by Oliver L. Sellers from the novel by Charles Neville Buck, and starring Lon Chaney as Kindard Powers. The title refers to a character nicknamed "Bearcat" who promises his girlfriend that he will quit drinking liquor. The plot involving a promise to give up drinking was timely given the passage of the Wartime Prohibition Act, which took effect on June 30, 1919, and banned the sale of alcoholic beverages, and ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in January of the same year.
The Gift Supreme is a 1920 American silent drama film starring Bernard Durning, Seena Owen, Lon Chaney and Tully Marshall. The film was directed by Ollie Sellers and based on the 1916 novel of the same name by George Allan England. Most sources do not state who wrote the screenplay, although it was probably written by Ollie Sellers. The assistant director was Justin McKlosky. The supporting cast includes Melbourne MacDowell, Eugenie Besserer, Jack Curtis, Anna Dodge and Claire McDowell. Some sources state the film was released on April 12, 1920, but the majority say May 9.
A Man's Country is a 1919 silent Western drama film directed by Henry Kolker, and starring Alma Rubens, Alan Roscoe, and Lon Chaney. It was written by Richard Schayer based on a screen story by John Lynch. The poster's tagline was "A forceful and spectacular drama of the primitive West in the days of the Gold Rush, when men fought hard, women lived fast and human life was cheap."
Bondage is a 1917 American silent drama film written and directed by Ida May Park, and starring Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell, Gretchen Lederer and J.B. MacLaughlin.