When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922 film)

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When Knighthood Was in Flower
Theatrical poster
Directed byRobert G. Vignola
Produced byWilliam Randolph Hearst
StarringMarion Davies
CinematographyIra H. Morgan
Harold Wenstrom
Music byWilliam Frederick Peters
Victor Herbert (additional music)
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • September 14, 1922 (1922-09-14)
Running time
12 reels; 11,618 feet (120 minutes)
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent film (English intertitles)
Budget$1.5 Million

When Knighthood Was in Flower is a 1922 silent historical film based on the novel When Knighthood Was in Flower by Charles Major and play by Paul Kester. The film was produced by William Randolph Hearst (or his Cosmopolitan Productions) for his 'live-in companion' Marion Davies and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The director was veteran Robert G. Vignola who helmed several of Davies costume romances. This was William Powell's second film. The story was re-filmed in the sound era in 1953 as The Sword and the Rose by Ken Annakin.[1][2]

Plot

Mary Tudor (Marion Davies), the younger sister of King Henry VIII (Lyn Harding), falls in love with commoner Charles Brandon (Forrest Stanley). There are other plans for Mary, however; she is supposed to make a politically strategic marriage to the elderly King Louis XII of France (William Norris). Brandon is framed for murder, but Mary, disguised as a boy, helps him to escape. Henry tracks down his sister and her lover at a Bristol Inn, and Mary agrees to wed the French king if Brandon's life is spared. After Brandon is exiled, Mary goes ahead with the wedding, but King Louis, in his attempt to prove he is lively enough for such a pretty young bride, drops dead. His nephew and heir to the throne, Francis (William Powell), wants to wed Mary, but Brandon comes to the rescue. When Henry discovers that his sister and Brandon have married, he remarks, "I should have consented in the first place, and saved us all this trouble."

Cast

Left to right: Lyn Harding, Marion Davies, Forrest Stanley

uncredited

  • Betty Brown - extra
  • Flora Finch - French countess
  • Black Diamond the Horse -
  • Winchester the Horse -
  • George Ogle - ?
  • Dorothy Portingall - ?
  • Andrew Quirk - Courtier
  • Mortimer Snow -

Reception

The film was very popular and was the sixth biggest hit of the year in the US. When it was released, the theatres were filled with flowers for theatrical effect.[3] Playwright Robert E. Sherwood considered it one of the best pictures of the year.[4]

References

  1. ^ When Knighthood Was in Flower at the silentera.com database
  2. ^ When Knighthood Was in Flower as produced by Charles Frohman on the Broadway stage at the Criterion Theatre January 14, 1901 to June 1901, 176 performances; IBDb.com database
  3. ^ Variety list of box office champions for 1922
  4. ^ John T. Soister, American Silent Horror, Science Fiction and Fantasy Feature Films, 1913-1929, McFarland, 2012, p.41

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to When Knighthood Was in Flower (1922 film).
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