Beauty's Worth

Beauty's Worth
Beauty's Worth
	Film poster
Directed by	Robert G. Vignola
Written by	Luther Reed (scenario)
Based on	"Beauty's Worth"; by Sophie Kerr
Starring	Marion Davies; Forrest Stanley
Cinematography	Ira H. Morgan
Production; company	Cosmopolitan Productions
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	March 18, 1922 (New York City);
Running time	112 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Beauty's Worth is a 1922 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Robert G. Vignola, starring Marion Davies as an unsophisticated Quaker who ventures to a seaside resort, meets a Bohemian artist, and falls in love.

Plot

As described in a film magazine,^[1] Prudence Cole (Davies), a young Quaker woman, has been raised by her two severe maiden aunts, Elizabeth (Mattox) and Cynthia Whitney (Manning). She is permitted to visit the Garrisons, the mother (Shattuck) and her grown son Henry (Cooley), at an ultra fashionable resort, where her precise mannerisms make her the center of amused attention. Henry, whom she had hoped to marry, all but ignores her. Artist and thinker Cheyne Rovein (Stanley) senses the young woman's position and selects her for the leading role in elaborate charades which he stages, designing costumes and coaching her as to conduct. On this night she outshines her critics, wins the admiration of the men and the enmity of the women, and the dallying Henry returns to pay her court. The following morning she refuses him and promises to marry Cheyne.

Cast

Marion Davies as Prudence Cole
Forrest Stanley as Cheyne Rovein
June Elvidge as Amy Tillson
Truly Shattuck as Mrs. Garrison
Lydia Yeamans Titus as Jane
Hallam Cooley as Henry Garrison
Antrim Short as Tommy
Thomas Jefferson as Peter
Martha Mattox as Aunt Elizabeth Whitney
Aileen Manning as Aunt Cynthia Whitney
Gordon Dooley as Doll (in charade scene)
Johnny Dooley as Soldier (in charade scene)

Production

Beauty's Worth (full movie)

In her 13th film, Marion Davies re-teamed with Forrest Stanley for this romantic comedy/drama. Location shooting was again at Point Lobos on the Monterey Peninsula. The centerpiece of the film is the stunning "tableaux vivants" in which Davies recreates her dancing doll routine from the 1916 edition of the Ziegfeld Follies. The pageant was once again designed by Joseph Urban. The pageant scenes were originally tinted.^[2]

Status

A DVD of the film was released by Edward Lorusso with a music score by Ben Model in December 2016.

Legacy

On August 11, 2018 the film has been shown in Robert G. Vignola's birthplace Trivigno, with the collaboration of Pordenone Silent Film Festival, as part of a project to recover Vignola's activity. It has been scored live by Stephen Horne and the "Zerorchestra" ensemble from Pordenone.^[3]

References

^ "Reviews: Beauty's Worth". Exhibitors Herald. 14 (16). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 63. April 15, 1922.
^ Lorusso, Edward (2017) The Silent Films of Marion Davies, CreateSpace, pp. 63-64.
^ "Le Giornate del muto recuperano Robert Vignola" (in Italian). August 16, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2019.

External links

Beauty's Worth at IMDb
Beauty's Worth at the TCM Movie Database
Beauty's Worth at silentera.com
Synopsis at AllMovie

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[Herald-1] "Reviews: Beauty's Worth". Exhibitors Herald. 14 (16). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 63. April 15, 1922.

[2] Lorusso, Edward (2017) The Silent Films of Marion Davies, CreateSpace, pp. 63-64.

[3] "Le Giornate del muto recuperano Robert Vignola" (in Italian). August 16, 2018. Retrieved July 1, 2019.

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