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'''''Peacock Alley''''' is a 1922 American [[silent film|silent]] [[drama film]] starring [[Monte Blue]] and [[Mae Murray]]. The film was directed by Murray's husband at the time, [[Robert Z. Leonard]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ankerich|first=Michael G. |title=Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips|year=2012|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-813-14038-4|page=329}}</ref> An incomplete print survives at the [[Library of Congress]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/murray.htm|title=Mae Murray|first1=De Groat|last1=Greta|first2=Greta de|last2=Groat|date=November 30, 2000|website=Stanford.edu|access-date=October 29, 2017}}</ref>
'''''Peacock Alley''''' is a 1922 American [[silent film|silent]] [[drama film]] starring [[Monte Blue]] and [[Mae Murray]]. The film was directed by Murray's husband at the time, [[Robert Z. Leonard]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ankerich|first=Michael G. |title=Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips|year=2012|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-813-14038-4|page=329}}</ref>
[[File:Peacock Alley lobby card.jpg|thumb|Lobby card]]
[[File:Peacock Alley lobby card.jpg|thumb|Lobby card]]


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== Legal case ==
== Legal case ==
The character "Cleo of Paris" was a parody of [[Cléo de Mérode]]. Upon learning of the film and its portrayal of her as a courtesan, de Mérode was unhappy about the portrayal, stating, "I lead and have always led the quietest of lives, I do not seek any publicity, and I really do not wish to be given any against my will, especially that sort of publicity."<ref name="garval">{{cite book |last1=Garval |first1=Michael |title=Cléo de Mérode and the Rise of Modern Celebrity Culture |date=October 10, 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781409406037 |page=186}}</ref> She went on to attempt to sue the filmmakers for 100,000 francs in damages, alleging that the film injured her reputation and was defamatory. The case was unsuccessful.<ref name="thenewyorktimesindex">{{cite news |last1=Garval |first1=Michael D. |year=2012 |title=The New York Times Index |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOqQfYNWoC8C&q=cleo+de+merode+1917&pg=PA174 |access-date=May 27, 2021 |work=The New York Times Index, Volume 11, Issue 4 |issue=October-December 1923 |isbn=9781409406037}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Garval |first=Michael D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOqQfYNWoC8C&q=cleo+de+merode+1917&pg=PA174 |title=Cléo de Mérode and the Rise of Modern Celebrity Culture |date=2012 |publisher=Ashgate Pub. Company |isbn=9781409406037 |pages=174 |via=Google Books}}</ref>
The character "Cleo of Paris" was a parody of [[Cléo de Mérode]]. Upon learning of the film and its portrayal of her as a courtesan, de Mérode was unhappy about the portrayal, stating, "I lead and have always led the quietest of lives, I do not seek any publicity, and I really do not wish to be given any against my will, especially that sort of publicity."<ref name="garval">{{cite book |last1=Garval |first1=Michael |title=Cléo de Mérode and the Rise of Modern Celebrity Culture |date=October 10, 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781409406037 |page=186}}</ref> She went on to attempt to sue the filmmakers for 100,000 francs in damages, alleging that the film injured her reputation and was defamatory. The case was unsuccessful.<ref name="thenewyorktimesindex">{{cite news |last1=Garval |first1=Michael D. |year=2012 |title=The New York Times Index |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOqQfYNWoC8C&q=cleo+de+merode+1917&pg=PA174 |access-date=May 27, 2021 |work=The New York Times Index, Volume 11, Issue 4 |issue=October-December 1923 |isbn=9781409406037}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Garval |first=Michael D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VOqQfYNWoC8C&q=cleo+de+merode+1917&pg=PA174 |title=Cléo de Mérode and the Rise of Modern Celebrity Culture |date=2012 |publisher=Ashgate Pub. Company |isbn=9781409406037 |pages=174 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Preservation==
With no prints of ''Peacock Alley'' located in any film archives, it is considered a [[lost film]].<ref name="American Silent Feature Film Database">{{cite web |url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.8215/ |title=American Silent Feature Film Database: ''Peacock Alley'' |access-date=April 28, 2024 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref> In February of 2021, the film was cited by the [[National Film Preservation Board]] on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list.<ref name="Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films">{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/SFF-LostFilmsList020421.pdf |title=7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29) |publisher=National Film Preservation Board |access-date=April 28, 2024}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock Alley (1922 film)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peacock Alley (1922 film)}}
[[Category:1922 films]]
[[Category:1922 films]]
[[Category:1922 lost films]]
[[Category:1922 drama films]]
[[Category:1922 drama films]]
[[Category:Silent American drama films]]
[[Category:Silent American drama films]]

Revision as of 03:00, 29 April 2024

Peacock Alley
Poster
Directed byRobert Z. Leonard
Written byEdmund Goulding
Robert Z. Leonard
Fanny Hatton (titles)
Frederic Hatton (titles)
Story byOuida Bergère
Produced byRobert Z. Leonard
StarringMae Murray
Monte Blue
CinematographyOliver T. Marsh
Production
company
Distributed byMetro Pictures
Release date
  • January 23, 1922 (1922-01-23)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Peacock Alley is a 1922 American silent drama film starring Monte Blue and Mae Murray. The film was directed by Murray's husband at the time, Robert Z. Leonard.[1]

Lobby card

Plot

As described in a film magazine,[2] the board of directors for the main manufacturing company in the American village of Harmonville send young Elmer Harmon (Blue) to Paris to obtain a contract with the French government. In Paris Elmer meets the dancer Cleo of Paris (Murray), who casts aside her rich, would-be sweethearts and falls in love with him. When his business affairs appear hopeless, she helps him secure his contract, and the couple are married and return to Harmonville. A gala is given in Elmer's honor for having saved the village's prosperity, and citizens are shocked by Cleo's Parisian fashion. Elmer sells his interests and the couple move to New York City. To give Cleo the luxuries to which she is accustomed, Elmer in a moment of weakness forges his uncle's name and is arrested. Endeavoring to get Elmer out of trouble, Cleo returns to the stage, but in so doing she breaks a promise made to her husband. Elmer is released from jail after promising his uncle to have nothing more to do with Cleo, but then immediately tries to look her up. He finds her in what appears to be a compromising but innocent situation and decides the bad things that have been said about Cleo are true. He returns to Harmonville and the heartbroken Cleo returns to France and seeks seclusion in Normandy. Three years later Elmer finds Cleo there along with her little son who is named for him. They have a reconciliation.

Cast

Reception

The film was one of Murray's most successful films, and one of the biggest hits of 1922. The film was so successful it was the only silent film of Murray's that she remade as the "talkie" Peacock Alley, though major changes were made to the plot.

Legal case

The character "Cleo of Paris" was a parody of Cléo de Mérode. Upon learning of the film and its portrayal of her as a courtesan, de Mérode was unhappy about the portrayal, stating, "I lead and have always led the quietest of lives, I do not seek any publicity, and I really do not wish to be given any against my will, especially that sort of publicity."[3] She went on to attempt to sue the filmmakers for 100,000 francs in damages, alleging that the film injured her reputation and was defamatory. The case was unsuccessful.[4][5]

Preservation

With no prints of Peacock Alley located in any film archives, it is considered a lost film.[6] In February of 2021, the film was cited by the National Film Preservation Board on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list.[7]

References

  1. ^ Ankerich, Michael G. (2012). Mae Murray: The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips. University Press of Kentucky. p. 329. ISBN 978-0-813-14038-4.
  2. ^ "Reviews: Peacock Alley". Exhibitors Herald. 13 (22). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 50. November 26, 1921.
  3. ^ Garval, Michael (October 10, 2012). Cléo de Mérode and the Rise of Modern Celebrity Culture. Routledge. p. 186. ISBN 9781409406037.
  4. ^ Garval, Michael D. (2012). "The New York Times Index". The New York Times Index, Volume 11, Issue 4. No. October-December 1923. ISBN 9781409406037. Retrieved May 27, 2021.
  5. ^ Garval, Michael D. (2012). Cléo de Mérode and the Rise of Modern Celebrity Culture. Ashgate Pub. Company. p. 174. ISBN 9781409406037 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "American Silent Feature Film Database: Peacock Alley". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  7. ^ "7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29)" (PDF). National Film Preservation Board. Retrieved April 28, 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peacock Alley.


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