Comin' Thro the Rye (1923 film)
Encyclopedia
Comin' Thro the Rye is a 1923 British silent
drama film
directed by Cecil Hepworth
and starring Alma Taylor
and Ralph Forbes
. A woman is prevented from marrying the man she loves by the interference of another woman. It was based on a novel of the same name by Helen Mathers. The title alludes to the Robert Burns
poem Comin' Through the Rye
.
A clip of it is seen in the 1957 comedy The Smallest Show on Earth
, where the elderly staff of the old fleapit cinema tearfully watch silent films on their evenings off.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Cecil Hepworth
Cecil Hepworth
Cecil Milton Hepworth was an English film director, producer and screenwriter. He was among the founders of the British film industry and continued making films into the 1920s....
and starring Alma Taylor
Alma Taylor
- Life :Taylor was born in London. She made her first screen appearance as a child actor in the 1907 film His Daughter's Voice. She went on to appear in more than 150 film roles, appearing in a number of larger-budget films such as Shadow of Egypt which was shot on location in Egypt in 1924. Taylor...
and Ralph Forbes
Ralph Forbes
rightRalph Forbes was an English actor in the American cinema. He was also a noted stage actor....
. A woman is prevented from marrying the man she loves by the interference of another woman. It was based on a novel of the same name by Helen Mathers. The title alludes to the Robert Burns
Robert Burns
Robert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
poem Comin' Through the Rye
Comin' Through the Rye
"Comin' Thro' the Rye" is a poem written in 1782 by Robert Burns . It is well known as a traditional children's song, with the words put to the melody of the Scottish Minstrel Common' Frae The Town...
.
A clip of it is seen in the 1957 comedy The Smallest Show on Earth
The Smallest Show on Earth
The Smallest Show on Earth is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Basil Dearden, and starring Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Sellers and Margaret Rutherford. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Leslie Phillips, Francis de Wolff, George Cross, June Cunningham and Sid James...
, where the elderly staff of the old fleapit cinema tearfully watch silent films on their evenings off.
Plot
The story of a young girl who is prevented from marrying the man she loves by the machinations of a designing woman.< The plot centres around the heroine, Helen Adair, who is courted by George Tempest but who meets and falls in love with Paul Vasher. Vasher's former love Sylvia Fleming who has betrayed him, is jealous of his affections for Helen and manages by intercepting mail between the lovers to plot to win him back. While Vasher is abroad she places a false announcement of the marriage of Helen and George in the Times and in his despair at this news he agrees to marry her. Sylvia is trapped in a loveless marriage, Helen retains her virtue, Vasher never forgets his love for Helen and in a final letter from the battlefield writes to his true love telling her he will meet her 'Comin' through the rye'.Cast
- Alma TaylorAlma Taylor- Life :Taylor was born in London. She made her first screen appearance as a child actor in the 1907 film His Daughter's Voice. She went on to appear in more than 150 film roles, appearing in a number of larger-budget films such as Shadow of Egypt which was shot on location in Egypt in 1924. Taylor...
as Helen Adair - Shayle GardnerShayle Gardner-Selected filmography:* St. Elmo * The Chinese Bungalow * The Three Passions * Three Live Ghosts * Disraeli * The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu * The Lodger * The Love Test...
as Paul Vasher - Eileen DennesEileen Dennes-Selected filmography:* The Forest on the Hill * Alf's Button * John Forrest Finds Himself * Tansy * Mr. Justice Raffles * Strangling Threads * The Squire of Long Hadley -External links:...
as Sylvia Fleming - Ralph ForbesRalph ForbesrightRalph Forbes was an English actor in the American cinema. He was also a noted stage actor....
as George Tempest - James CarewJames CarewJames Carew was an American actor who appeared in many films, mainly in Britain. He was born in Goshen, Indiana in 1876 and began work as a clerk in a publishing firm...
as Col. Adair - Francis ListerFrancis ListerFrancis Lister was a British film actor. He was married to the actress Nora Swinburne.-Selected filmography:* Comin' Thro the Rye * Boden's Boy * At the Villa Rose * Uneasy Virtue...
as Dick Fellowes - Gwynne HerbertGwynne Herbert-Selected filmography:* The Firm of Girdlestone * Annie Laurie * The Manxman * A Fortune at Stake * Possession * The Kinsman * The Forest on the Hill * Alf's Button...
as Mrs. Adair - Henry VibartHenry VibartHenry Vibart was a Scottish stage and film actor, active from the 1880s until the early 1930s. He appeared in many theatrical roles in the UK and overseas, and featured in over 70 films of the silent era.-Career:...
as Mr. Tempest - Christine RaynerChristine Rayner-Selected filmography:* Sally Bishop * The Kinsman * Kipps * Comin' Thro the Rye...
as Jane Peach - Nancy PriceNancy PriceNancy Price, CBE , was an English actress on stage and screen, authoress and theatre director. Her acting career began in a repertory theatre company before progressing to the London stage, silent films, talkies and finally television. In addition to appearing on stage she became involved in...
as Mrs. Titmouse - John MacAndrewsJohn MacAndrews-Selected filmography:* Far from the Madding Crowd * Barnaby Rudge * Trelawny of the Wells * The Hanging Judge * The Poet's Windfall * His Dearest Possession * The Forest on the Hill...
as Simpkins - Margot Armstrong as Alice Adair
External links
- Comin' Thro the Rye at BFI Film & TV Database
- Comin' Thro the Rye at Silent Era
- Comin' Thro the Rye at Hepworth film
Further reading
- Raising the Flag: Constructing a National Cinema in Britain, Andrew Higson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995, ISBN 0-19-812369-8. Chapter on Comin' Thro the Rye: pp. 26–97.