Wages of Virtue

Last updated

Wages of Virtue
Wages of Virtue poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Allan Dwan
Screenplay by Forrest Halsey
Based onWages of Virtue
by Percival Christopher Wren
Produced by Jesse L. Lasky
Adolph Zukor
Starring Gloria Swanson
Ben Lyon
Norman Trevor
Ivan Linow
Cinematography George Webber
Production
company
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • November 10, 1924 (1924-11-10)
Running time
70 minutes
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

Wages of Virtue is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Allan Dwan and written by Forrest Halsey and Percival Christopher Wren. The film stars Gloria Swanson, Ben Lyon, Norman Trevor, Ivan Linow, Armand Cortes, Adrienne D'Ambricourt, and Paul Panzer. The film was released on November 10, 1924, by Paramount Pictures. [1] [2] It was shot at the Astoria Studios in New York.

Contents

It is based on a novel by Percival Christopher Wren, best known as the author of Beau Geste . Like that story, Wages of Virtue is based around the French Foreign Legion, and an Italian woman who runs a café in Algiers frequented by the Legionnaires. [3]

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, [4] Luigi (Linow), a strong man, head of a small show, saves the life of a young woman, Carmelita (Swanson), and persuades her to join his company. His assistant, Giuseppe (Cortes), arouses his jealousy and he kills him. To escape the police, Luigi leaves, taking Carmelita with him, and they finally land in a garrison town in Algiers. Luigi joins the French Foreign Legion and installs Carmelita as proprietress of a cafe which attracts the soldiers. Among them is an American, Marvin (Lyon), who falls in love with her, but she is held to Luigi by gratitude until she learns that he is planning to marry Madame Cantiniere (D'Ambricourt), a widow who runs another cafe. Luigi, jealous of Marvin, frames him and he is punished by the military authorities. Later they have a fight and Marvin is being overpowered when Carmelita stabs Luigi. The soldiers, who love her, spread the report that he was killed in a fight with an Arab, and Carmelita and Marvin find happiness together.

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of Wages of Virtue located in any film archives, [5] it is a lost film.

The film was shot on extremely flammable nitrate film. One copy ignited while being projected in movie theatre Imatra in Tampere, Finland on 23 October 1927, causing the deadliest movie theatre fire in Finland ever, with 40 casualties. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Pickford</span> Canadian actress and producer (1892–1979)

Gladys Louise Smith, known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress, producer, screenwriter and film studio founder. She was a pioneer in the American film industry, with a Hollywood career that spanned five decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrzej Wajda</span> Polish film director (1926–2016)

Andrzej Witold Wajda was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "Polish Film School". He was known especially for his trilogy of war films consisting of A Generation (1955), Kanał (1957) and Ashes and Diamonds (1958).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudolph Valentino</span> Italian actor (1895–1926)

Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella, known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor based in the United States who starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,The Sheik,Blood and Sand,The Eagle, and The Son of the Sheik.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algerian War</span> 1954–1962 war of Algerian independence from France

The Algerian War was a major armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria winning its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare and war crimes. The conflict also became a civil war between the different communities and within the communities. The war took place mainly on the territory of Algeria, with repercussions in metropolitan France.

The following is an overview of events in 1980 in film, including the highest-grossing films, award ceremonies and festivals, a list of films released and notable deaths.

The year 1950 in film involved some significant events.

The year 1949 in film involved some significant events.

The following is an overview of 1926 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lupe Vélez</span> Mexican actress (1908–1944)

María Guadalupe "Lupe" Villalobos Vélez was a Mexican actress, singer, and dancer during the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Wood</span> Director, producer, and actor

Samuel Grosvenor Wood was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as A Night at the Opera, A Day at the Races, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Pride of the Yankees, and For Whom the Bell Tolls and for his uncredited work directing parts of Gone with the Wind. He was also involved in a few acting and writing projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manoel de Oliveira</span> Portuguese film director, screenwriter and racing driver (1908–2015)

Manoel Cândido Pinto de Oliveira was a Portuguese film director and screenwriter born in Cedofeita, Porto. He first began making films in 1927, when he and some friends attempted to make a film about World War I. In 1931, he completed his first film Douro, Faina Fluvial, a documentary about his home city Porto made in the city-symphony genre. He made his feature film debut in 1942 with Aniki-Bóbó and continued to make shorts and documentaries for the next 30 years, gaining a minimal amount of recognition without being considered a major world film director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. C. Wren</span> English writer (1875–1941)

Percival Christopher Wren was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was one of 33 novels and short story collections that he wrote, mostly dealing with colonial soldiering in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Hoyt</span> American actor (1874–1953)

Arthur Hoyt was an American film character actor who appeared in more than 275 films in his 34-year film career, about a third of them silent films.

Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Meeker</span> American actor (1904–1984)

George Meeker was an American character film and Broadway actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coco Chanel</span> French fashion designer (1883–1971)

Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularising a sporty, casual chic as the feminine standard of style. She is the only fashion designer listed on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. A prolific fashion creator, Chanel extended her influence beyond couture clothing into jewellery, handbags, and fragrance. Her signature scent, Chanel No. 5, has become an iconic product, and Chanel herself designed her famed interlocked-CC monogram, which has been in use since the 1920s.

<i>What a Widow!</i> 1930 film

What a Widow! is a 1930 American pre-Code musical romantic comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and produced by and starring Gloria Swanson. The music was written by Vincent Youmans. It was distributed through United Artists. Although rumored to have been lost for decades, the film is extant in two complete 35mm copies at the George Eastman Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrienne D'Ambricourt</span> American actress

Adrienne D'Ambricourt was a French-American actress of the silent and sound film eras. She was born in Paris, and emigrated to the United States after the end of World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armand Cortes</span> American actor (1880–1948)

Armand Cortes, sometimes credited as Armand Cortez, was an American actor in theater and film in the United States. He had various theatrical roles in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

References

  1. Janiss Garza (2015). "Wages-of-Virtue - Trailer - Cast - Showtimes - NYTimes.com". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times . Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  2. "Wages of Virtue". afi.com. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  3. Lombardi p. 139
  4. Sewell, Charles S. (December 6, 1924). "Wages of Virtue; Gloria Swanson at Her Best in Colorful and Fascinating Story of French Foreign Legion". The Moving Picture World. 71 (6). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 548. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  5. The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: Wages of Virtue
  6. "Elokuvateatteri Imatrasta tuli kuolemanteatteri vuonna 1927 - Palavasta filmistä levinnyt tulipalo vaati useita kuolonuhreja Tampereella". November 3, 2019.

Bibliography