The Lady (1925 film)
Encyclopedia
The Lady is a 1925 American silent
drama film
starring Norma Talmadge
and directed by Frank Borzage
.
Talmadge's own production company produced the film with distribution by First National Pictures.
The film survives in the U.S. Library of Congress
with reel 2 missing. The remaining elements of the film have severe beginning stages of nitrate
decomposition making much of the film hard to follow.
played Talmadge's part of Polly Pearl and Elizabeth Risdon played Fanny Le Clare which in the film was played by Doris Lloyd
. Also in the cast was child actor Junior Durkin
soon to find bigger fame in films.
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...
starring Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge
Norma Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.Her most famous film was Smilin’ Through , but she also...
and directed by Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage
Frank Borzage was an American film director and actor.-Biography:Frank Borzage's father, Luigi Borzaga, was born in Ronzone, in 1859. As a stonemason, he sometimes worked in Switzerland; he met his future wife, Maria Ruegg , where she worked in a silk factory...
.
Talmadge's own production company produced the film with distribution by First National Pictures.
The film survives in the U.S. Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
with reel 2 missing. The remaining elements of the film have severe beginning stages of nitrate
Nitrate
The nitrate ion is a polyatomic ion with the molecular formula NO and a molecular mass of 62.0049 g/mol. It is the conjugate base of nitric acid, consisting of one central nitrogen atom surrounded by three identically-bonded oxygen atoms in a trigonal planar arrangement. The nitrate ion carries a...
decomposition making much of the film hard to follow.
Origins
Like many of Talmadge's silents of the 1920s The Lady is derived from a stage play. The play, The Lady , ran on Broadway from December 4, 1923 to February 1924 at Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre. It was produced by A. H. Woods. Mary NashMary Nash
-Early life:Nash was born on August 15, 1884 in Troy, New York, to parents Philip Nash, who worked for B. F. Keith Vaudeville Circuit, and Ellen Frances MacNamara. She was educated at the Convent of St. Anne in Montreal and trained for acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts...
played Talmadge's part of Polly Pearl and Elizabeth Risdon played Fanny Le Clare which in the film was played by Doris Lloyd
Doris Lloyd
Hessy Doris Lloyd was an English actress.She appeared in over 150 films between 1920 and 1967, including the 1933 low-budget Monogram Pictures version of Oliver Twist, in which she played Nancy...
. Also in the cast was child actor Junior Durkin
Junior Durkin
Junior Durkin, born Trent Bernard Durkin , was an American film actor from New York, New York. Durkin began his acting career in theater while a child. He entered films in 1930, and played the role of Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer , and Huckleberry Finn...
soon to find bigger fame in films.
Cast
- Norma TalmadgeNorma TalmadgeNorma Talmadge was an American actress and film producer of the silent era. A major box office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among the most popular idols of the American screen.Her most famous film was Smilin’ Through , but she also...
as Polly Pearl - Brandon HurstBrandon HurstBrandon Hurst was an English stage and film actor. He studied linguistics in his youth and began playing in theatre in 1880s. He was nearly fifty years old when he acted in his first film Via Wireless as Edward Pnickney in year 1915 and continued acting in the 129 other films until his death 1947...
as St. Aubyns Sr - Wallace MacDonaldWallace MacDonaldWallace Archibald MacDonald was an Canadian silent film actor, and film producer....
as Leonard St. Aubyns - Paulette DuvalPaulette DuvalPaulette Duval was a French dancer and actress of the silent film era and early sound motion pictures. She was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1900 and raised in France. She was considered one of the most beautiful women in Paris in the early twentieth century...
as Madame Adrienne Catellier - Emily FitzroyEmily FitzroyEmily Fitzroy was a British film actress who eventually became an American citizen. She made her film debut in 1915 and retired in 1944, with exactly 100 films to her resume...
as Madame Blanche - Johnny Fox (billed as John Fox Jr.) as Freckles
- Alfred Goulding as Tom Robinson
- George HackathorneGeorge HackathorneGeorge Hackathorne was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 59 films between 1916 and 1939...
as Leonard Cairns
- John Herdman as John Cairns
- Ed Hubbell (billed as Edwin Hubbell) as London Boy
- Doris LloydDoris LloydHessy Doris Lloyd was an English actress.She appeared in over 150 films between 1920 and 1967, including the 1933 low-budget Monogram Pictures version of Oliver Twist, in which she played Nancy...
as Fannie St. Clair - Walter LongWalter Long (actor)Walter Huntley Long was an American character actor in films from the 1910s. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire.-Career:He appeared in many D. W...
as Blackie - Miles McCarthy as Mr. Graves
- Marc McDermottMarc McDermottMarcus McDermott was an Australian-born American actor who starred on Broadway and in over 180 American films from 1909 until his death.-Early life and career:...
as Mr. Wendover - Margaret SeddonMargaret SeddonMargaret Seddon was an American film actress. She appeared in 104 films between 1915 and 1951. She was born in Washington, D.C...
as Mrs. Cairns