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The Nightingale (1914 film)

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The Nightingale
Ad for film
Directed byAugustus E. Thomas
Written byAugustus Thomas
Produced byAll Star Feature Film Corporation
StarringEthel Barrymore
Distributed byAlco Film Corporation
Release date
  • October 5, 1914 (1914-10-05)
Running time
5 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Nightingale, a drama film directed and written by Augustus Thomas in 1914, is a silent drama film, which Alco Film Corporation released. Ethel Barrymore makes her acting debut in this feature film, which Thomas wrote specifically for her. Thomas, famed as a Broadway playwright, was the best friend of Barrymore's father Maurice, and had known the actress since she was a child.[1] As with many of Barrymore's films to come, the advertising for this film says the film is told in 'acts' as with a stage play, an effort to remind the audience of the star's status and preference for the legitimate stage. This film was long thought to be lost.[2][3][4][5]

Cast

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  • Ethel Barrymore as Isola Franti, 'The Nightingale'
  • William Courtleigh as Tony Franti
  • Frank Andrews as Andrea Franti
  • Conway Tearle as Charles Marden
  • Charles A. Stevenson as Nathan Narden
  • Irving Brooks as 'Red' Galvin
  • Mario Majeroni as David Mantz
  • Philip Hahn as Jean de Resni
  • Ida Darling as Mrs. Belmore
  • Bobby Stewart as Nathan Marden II
  • Henri Antiznat as Prefect of Police
  • Frank Dudley as Frank
  • M. Monet as Gazzi Catassi
  • Caroline French as Maid
  • Mrs. Cooper Cliffe as Nola
  • Claude Cooper as Madonni
  • Ed West as Police Sergeant

Production

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The story of this film is similar to Clyde Fitch's 1901 play Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, in which Barrymore became a star playing an Italian opera singer. Fitch had died in 1909, and Charles Frohman, Barrymore's theatrical employer, owned the rights to Captain Jinks. Augustus Thomas, a Barrymore family friend and author, fashioned a similar story for Barrymore, enticing her to make a film with material she was familiar with. This was common practice in the silent era to make a write-around story for popular works for which screen rights could not be obtained.

A screen version of Fitch's Captain Jinks was later made with Ann Murdock.

References

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  1. ^ Great Times, Good Times: The Odyssey of Maurice Barrymore, Doubleday Press, c.1977 by James Kotsilibas Davis
  2. ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Film Institute, c. 1988
  3. ^ The Nightingale at silentera.com
  4. ^ The Nightingale at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  5. ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:The Nightingale
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