Under the Red Robe (Victor Sjostrom, 1937)

Advertisements placed in the Motion Picture Herald during 1937 noted the film "Under The Red Robe, directed by Victor Sjostrom as having been adapted from the "unforgettable novel" written by Stanley T. Whyman and the play by Edward Rose. The Review of Reviews section of World Film News during 1937 quoted the Birmingham Mail. "The period film, we are continually being told (by people in the industry, not the public) is dead. And the period film, hardier than the prophets, continues for the delight of the romantically inclined in an unromantic age...This is a film to enjoy if you have a heart for swashbuckling."

The novel "Under the Red Robe", written by Stanley J. Weyman in 1894, had been filmed on two previous occaisions, once in Great Britain in 1915, directed by Wilfred Noy and again in the United States in 1923, directed by Alan Crosland. The work had already appeared on stage as dramatized by Edward Ross.

Scholar Bo Florin mentions that although while directing in Sweden, Victor Sjostrom spearheaded the Golden Age of Silent and brought international recognition to a Scandinavian cinema that situated its narrative in the literature and landscapes or rural Sweden, in regard to characters and plots, the dramas depicted by Sjostrom would have fit into any international context, perhaps this evolving from Sjostrom's beginnings on the Swedish stage and in the theater.
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Victor Sjostrom playlist
Victor Sjostrom

Scott Lord Silent Film: Castle Films Travelogue

Silent Film

Scott Lord Scandinavian Silent Film: Bjrnetaemmern (Bear Tamer of the Fl...

During 1912, Lilli Beck appeared in the sequel to the film "The Flying Circus" (Lind, 1912), again appearing on the screen as a snake charmer under the direction of Alfred Lind in "The Bear Tamer of the Flying Circus".

Alfred Lind is notable for having directed the seven reel film "The Masque of Life/The Jockey of Death" during 1916 if only for its having been an example of an early attempt to create a new genre of "Thrill" movies in it continuance of circus themes and motifs, the publicity for the film similar to that of serials, or "cliffhangers", a later short film directed by Lind survives from 1923 entitiked "Filmens vovehals" (Daredevil of the Movies", starring Emilie Sannom.

During 1913, Motography Magazine in the United States introduced The Great Northern Film Company to its readers by defining the "circus thrill" film as an emerging genre, "The natural scenery in the suburbs of Copenhagen and in the country surrounding this old city afford all that could be desired for the taking of motion pictures and the atmospheric conditions have been pronounced as ideal by experts in the art of motography. The companyy boasts of a perfectly equipped circus arena in which many of its talked of feature productions are made." Lilli Beck Silent Film

Scott Lord Silent Film: American Aristocracy (Ingraham, Triangle Film, 1...

Motion Picture Review reviewed “An American Aristocracy” (five reels)in 1916. “The exhibitor knows the value of Douglas Fairbanks...We sincerely believe that Mr. Fairbanks can put this picture over with any audience whatsoever. It mixes comedy and thrills superbly. However, in the matter of construction it is not up to the standard of the best of his former pictures. It starts off with such a bang and such a rattling selection of uproarious subtitles that it cannot keep up the pace and as a consequence the action slowly up for a while during the middle of the picture. In the end, however, the thrills start again and takes the picture through to a glorious finish.”

"American Aristocracy" was directed by Lloyd Ingraham and photographed by Victor Fleming. During 1916, LLyod Ingraham also directed the film "Stranded" with Bessie Love for the Triangle Film Corporation. The film is presumed to be lost, with no existing surviving copies.

During 1916 Douglas Fairbanks also appeared in the five reel film "The Matrimaniac" (Paul Powell) scripted by John Emerson and Anita Loos for the Triangle Film Corporation and costarring actress COnstance Talmadge, as well as several five reel films directed by Alan Dwan, among which were "Manhattan Madness", "The Habit of Happiness", "The Good Badman" costarring Bessie Love, and "Reggie Mixes In", costarring Bessie Love.

For those interested in the screenwriting behind the photo play, which for this film was penned by Anita Loos, below is a magazine short story version, or novelization, of the Douglas Fairbanks Film.

Douglas Fairbanks Silent Film

Scott Lord Silent Film: Reaching for the Moon (Emerson, Loos, 1917)

Anita Loos coscripted the 1917 film "Reaching for the Moon" (five reels) with its director John Emerson. Douglas Fairbanks is paired in the film with actress Eileen Percy.
Doulgas Fairbanks appeared in several films during 1918, among those having been directed by Alan Dwan having been the lost five reel films "He Comes Up Smiling" with Marjorie Daw, "Mr. Fix It" with Marjorie Daw and Wanda Hawley, and "Bound in Morrocco" with Pauline Curley. Fairbanks also that year starred in the five reel films "Arizona" (Alan Parker) and "Heading South" (Arthur Rosen).

Silent Film Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Fairbanks SILENT FILM