''The Eternal Struggle'' is a 1923 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Reginald Barker Reginald C. Barker (April 2, 1886 – February 23, 1945) was a pioneer film director. Biography Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Barker's family moved to Scotland when he was an infant and then to the United States. Living in California, ...

. Distributed by

Metro Pictures Metro Pictures Corporation was a Film, motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leas ...

, the film is based on the 1913 novel ''The Law-Bringers'', written by

Edith Joan Lyttleton Edith Joan Lyttleton (18 December 187310 March 1945) was an Australasian author, who wrote as G. B. Lancaster. Life and career Lyttleton was born on the family farm near Campbell Town, Tasmania, and brought up from 1879 in New Zealand on a ...

Plot

The film focuses on Andrée Grange, the daughter of a local cafe owner. She is about to marry Neil Tempest, a sergeant at the

North-West Mounted Police The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) was a Canadian para-military police force, established in 1873, to maintain order in the new Canadian North-West Territories (NWT) following the 1870 transfer of Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory ...

, but is actually in love with Bucky O'Hara, one of Tempest's underlings whom she is constantly flirting with. Meanwhile, her father is attacked in his cabin by Barode Dukane. Andrée, who has witnessed the struggle, feels that she is responsible for the following death of Barode. Her father helps her flee town by ship and O'Hara is assigned to locate and arrest her. He tracks her down, but is followed by Tempest. Tempest tries to help her, but they are caught in the rapids. O'Hara eventually comes to the rescue, saving Tempest and Andrée's lives. In the end, her innocence is proven and Tempest breaks the engagement, realizing that his fiancée is in love with O'Hara.

Cast

Renée Adorée Renée Adorée (born Jeanne de la Fonte; 30 September 1898 – 5 October 1933) was a French stage and film actress who appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s. She is best known for portraying the role of Melisande, the love intere ...

as Andrée Grange *

Earle Williams Earle Williams (born Earle Raphael Williams; February 28, 1880 – April 25, 1927) was an American stage actor and film star in the silent era."EARLE WILLIAMS EXPIRES: Bronchial Pneumonia Ends Brilliant Career of Pioneer Filmland Favorite", ''L ...

as Sgt. Neil Tempest *

Barbara La Marr Barbara La Marr (born Reatha Dale Watson; July 28, 1896 – January 30, 1926) was an American film actress and screenwriter who appeared in twenty-seven films during her career between 1920 and 1926. La Marr was also noted by the medi ...

as Camille Lenoir * Pat O'Malley as Bucky O'Hara *

Wallace Beery Wallace Fitzgerald Beery (April 1, 1885 – April 15, 1949) was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in ''Min and Bill'' (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in ''Grand Hotel'' (193 ...

as Barode Dukane *

Josef Swickard Josef Swickard (26 June 1866 – 1 March 1940) was a Prussian-born veteran stage and screen character actor, who had toured with stock companies in Europe, South Africa, and South America. Career Swickard emigrated to the United States from Ger ...

as Pierre Grange *

Pat Harmon Plummer Hull Harman (February 3, 1886 – November 26, 1958), known professionally as Pat Harmon, was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1920 and 1947. In 1935, Harmon was the victim of a violent assault whic ...

as Oily Kirby *

Anders Randolf Anders Randolf (December 18, 1870 – July 2, 1930) was a Danish American actor in American films from 1913 to 1930. Biography Anders was born in Viborg, Denmark, where he became a professional soldier in the Danish army and a world-class sw ...

as Capt. Jack Scott *Ed Brady as Jean Caardeau * Robert Anderson as Olaf Olafson *

George Kuwa George Kuwa (born Keichii Kuwahara) was a Japanese and American Issei (Japanese immigrant) film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1931. He was the first actor to portray Charlie Chan on-screen in the 19 ...

as Wo Long

Preservation status

Once thought to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

, this film was one of ten silent films digitally preserved in the Russian film archive

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and othe ...

and presented to the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

in October 2010.

References

External links

* * 1923 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1923 drama films Silent American drama films 1920s rediscovered films Films directed by Reginald Barker 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub