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Anna Christie (1923 Film)
''Anna Christie'' is a 1923 American silent drama film based on the 1921 play by Eugene O'Neill (first film version) and starring Blanche Sweet and William Russell. Directed by John Griffith Wray and produced by Thomas H. Ince for First National Pictures, the screenplay was adapted by Bradley King from the Eugene O'Neill play of the same title. Thomas H. Ince Inc. paid a then-astronomical $35,000 for the screen rights to the play. Plot As described in a film magazine review, Anna Christie, daughter of rugged coal barge captain Chris Christopherson, has not seen her father since she was a baby. During her life on a farm, she has been betrayed by one man and been the mistress of another. Her father, unaware of her past, is determined to protect her from the advances of sailor folk. She takes a voyage with him and falls in love with drunken Matt Burke. She admits her sins and is rescued from suicide by Chris. She is forgiven by Matt who still wishes to wed her. Cast Prese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Griffith Wray
John Griffith Wray (August 30, 1881 – July 15, 1929) was an American stage actor and director who later became a noted Hollywood silent film director. He worked on 19 films between 1913 in film, 1913 and 1929 in film, 1929 that included ''Anna Christie (1923 film), Anna Christie'' (1923) and ''Human Wreckage'' (1923), Dorothy Davenport's story about her husband Wallace Reid's drug addiction and death. Biography Wray was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and died in Los Angeles, California. By 1912 Wray was a leading actor and stage director with the World's Fair Stock Company's yearlong Hawaiian tour. He married actress Virginia Brissac in Santa Ana, California, on June 29, 1915, and became the step-father of screenwriter Ardel Wray. The couple divorced in 1927. In October 1928, less than a year before his death, Wray married Bradley King (screenwriter), Bradley King, a Hollywood screenwriter.John G. Wray Marries. ''New York Times'', October 8, 1928, p. 15 Selected filmography * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugénie Besserer
Eugenie Besserer ( – May 29, 1934) was an American actress who starred in silent films and features of the early sound motion-picture era, beginning in 1910. Her most prominent role is that of the title character's mother in the first talkie film, ''The Jazz Singer''. Early life Born in Marseilles, France, Besserer attended the Convent of Notre Dame in Ottawa, Ontario. She was taken by her parents to Ottawa as a girl, and spent her childhood there. She was left an orphan and escaped from her guardians at the age of 12. She came to New York City and arrived at Grand Central Station with only 25 cents (Canadian currency, equivalent to US$0.34 at the time) in her pocket. She managed to locate a former governess, with the assistance of a street car conductor, who helped Eugenie locate an uncle, with whom she lived. She continued her education there. Career Besserer's initial theatrical experience came with McKee Rankin when the producer had Nance O'Neill Gertrude Lamson (Oct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
