Zander the Great
| Zander the Great | |
|---|---|
 Ad for film | |
| Directed by | George W. Hill |
| Written by | Frances Marion |
| Based on | Zander the Great by Edward Salisbury Field |
| Produced by | William Randolph Hearst |
| Starring | Marion Davies Emily Fitzroy Hedda Hopper |
| Cinematography | George Barnes Harold Wenstrom |
| Edited by | W. Donn Hayes James C. McKay |
| Music by | Victor Schertzinger |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | Silent English intertitles |
Zander the Great is a 1925 silent drama film directed by George W. Hill, in his first directing role for MGM. The film stars Marion Davies. The screenplay by Frances Marion is based upon Edward Salisbury Field 1923 play.[1][2]
Plot
Baby Zander (Jack Huff) is an orphan. Mamie (Marion Davies) takes him out West to search for his father. They fall among a den of smugglers in Arizona, where a supposed desperado rescues them from bandits.
Cast
- Marion Davies - Mamie Smith
- Holbrook Blinn - Juan Fernández
- Harrison Ford - Dan Murchinson
- Harry Watson - Good News
- Harry Myers - Texas
- George Siegmann - Black Bart
- Emily Fitzroy - The Matron
- Hobart Bosworth - The Sheriff
- Richard Carle - Mr. Pepper
- Hedda Hopper - Mrs. Caldwell
- Jack Huff - Zander
Production
In her 20th film, Marion Davies starred as the orphan, Mamie Smith, in a comedy/drama that was the first Davies film produced entirely on the West Coast and the first Davies production for MGM. This was another production that saw Hearst constantly meddling. He fired director Clarence Badger and brought in George W. Hill and Joseph Urban and re-shot extensive sections of the film. He reportedly burned the original footage. Hearst wanted the sand storm finale to outdo the storm scene in Way Down East, but critics said it was overdone to the point of being "claptrap hokum."[3] The film was a hit.
Davies recalled a circus sequence in which she was to enter the cage of a lion. She was so terrified of the lion that she refused to do the scene. Charlie Chaplin, whom she had recently met in Hollywood and who was visiting the set, supposedly donned her costume and did the scene with the lion. Davies' longtime assistant, however, claimed the scene was more likely done by a stuntwoman. The scene is not in the surviving print, but there are production stills showing Davies in a circus setting. This was the third and final teaming of Davies with Harrison Ford.[4]
Preservation status
- Prints preserved at Cinematheque Royale de Belgique, Library of Congress and the Museum of Modern Art.[5]
References
- ^ Zander the Great at silentera.com database
- ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:.. Zander the Great(Wayback)
- ^ Lorusso, Edward (2017) The Silent Films of Marion Davies, CreateSpace, pp. 109-110.
- ^ Lorusso, Edward (2017) The Silent Films of Marion Davies, CreateSpace, p. 109.
- ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:..Zander the Great
External links
- Zander the Great at IMDb
- Zander the Great at AllMovie
- still from the film with Marion Davies, Harry Watson Jr. and Harry Myers(on right)
- lobby poster
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