The Private Life of Helen of Troy
| The Private Life of Helen of Troy | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Alexander Korda |
| Produced by | Richard A. Rowland |
| Written by | John Erskine (novel) Gerald C. Duffy(intertitle) Ralph Spence(intertitle) Casey Robinson(intertitle) |
| Starring | Maria Corda Lewis Stone Ricardo Cortez |
| Music by | Carl Edouarde |
| Cinematography | Lee Garmes Sidney Hickox |
| Editing by | Harold Young |
| Distributed by | First National Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 9, 1927(NY Premiere) January 8, 1928(nationwide) |
| Running time | 57 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent film English intertitles |
The Private Life of Helen of Troy is a 1927 silent film about Helen of Troy based on a novel by John Erskine and adapted to screen by Gerald C. Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Korda and starred Maria Corda as Helen, Lewis Stone as Menelaus, and Ricardo Cortez as Paris. Coming at the end of the silent film era, it received the honor of being nominated for an Academy Award in 1928, the year of the Awards' inception, in the category of Best Title Writing. However, Gerald Duffy died on 25 June 1928, and he has the distinction of being the first person to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award.
That same year, the first "talkie," The Jazz Singer, received an honorary award for introducing sound to film, and the category for which The Private Life of Helen of Troy was nominated was dropped by the second Academy Awards.
Two sections from the beginning and end, running about 27-30 minutes in total, are reportedly all that survive of The Private Life of Helen of Troy; they are preserved by the British Film Institute.[1]
[edit] Cast
- Maria Corda - Helen
- Lewis Stone - Menelaus
- Ricardo Cortez - Paris
- George Fawcett - Eteoneus
- Alice White - Adraste
- Bill Elliott - Telemachus
- Tom O'Brien - Ulysses
- Bert Sprotte - Achilles
- Mario Carillo - Ajax
- Charles Puffy - Malapokitoratoreadetos
- George Kotsonaros - Hector
- Emilio Gorgato - Sarpedon
- Constantine Romanoff - Aeneas
- Alice Adair - Aphrodite
- Helen Fairweather - Athena
