''A Broadway Scandal'' is a 1918 American silent

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...

directed by

Joe De Grasse Joseph Louis De Grasse (May 4, 1873 – May 25, 1940) was a Canadians, Canadian film director. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he was the elder brother of actor Sam De Grasse. Biography Joseph De Grasse had studied and was a first-class grad ...

that features Carmel Myers,

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

and Edwin August. The screenplay was written by Harvey Gates. This would be Lon Chaney's last film for director

, ending a multiyear collaboration between the two men. The film's tagline was "Engagement Extraordinary! An Amazing Romance of a French Girl in New York". It is today considered 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 ...

. A still exists showing Lon Chaney as Kink Colby, together with the other main players in the shot. Like many American films of the time, ''A Broadway Scandal'' was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the

Chicago Board of Censors The Chicago Board of Censors was a film censorship committee based in Chicago that was founded in 1907 as the Police Censor Board, and operated until 1984. It was the first film censorship board in the United States. The board had great influence o ...

cut, in Reel 2, the shooting of a motorcycle policeman.

Plot

Nenette Bisson (Myers), an adventurous French girl, is shot in the shoulder by the police while joyriding in a stolen car with a lowlife punk named "Kink" Colby (Lon Chaney). Nenette is taken to the Kendall Hospital, where she becomes infatuated with her young physician, David Kendall (August). Kendall, believing all French women to be frivolous, toys with Nenette's affections but will not look upon her as a serious candidate for marriage. War breaks out and Dr. Kendall goes off to Europe to offer medical aid to the suffering. Nenette's father Armande runs a small cafe in New York City where Nenette sings for the patrons. Enraged, he throws her out when he learns of her involvement with Kink Colby. Over the next two years, Nenette goes on to become a Broadway star, but her attempts to win her father's forgiveness are fruitless. One night, however, she shows up at the cafe unexpectedly and tries in vain to get her father to forgive her. Dr. Kendall, home from the war after two years, has come to value the courage of French women while he was stationed in Europe. He seeks out Nenette at the cafe and proposes marriage to her. He later helps her to win back her father's love and approval.

Cast

Carmel Myers Carmel Myers (April 9, 1899 – November 9, 1980) was an American actress who achieved her greatest successes in silent film. Early life Myers was born in San Francisco, the daughter of Isidore Myers, a Russian-Jewish rabbi who was born in ...

as Nenette Bisson *

Edwin August Edwin August Phillip von der Butz (November 10, 1883 – March 4, 1964) was an American actor, director, and screenwriter of the silent era. August was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated from Christian Brothers College there. He act ...

as Dr. David Kendall *

as "Kink" Colby * Andrew Robson as Armande Bisson (Nenette's father) * W. H. Bainbridge as the elder Dr. Kendall (David's father) * S. K. Shilling as Paul Caval * Fred Gamble as Falkner

Reception

"Carmel Myers has come up wonderfully in her acting ability. Her performance in this number...is a revelation of feminine chic. The plot, in spite of its unpromising title, is thoroughly enjoyable and moves swiftly through its course to a pleasing conclusion.--- ''Moving Picture World''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway Scandal, A 1918 films 1918 comedy films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Joseph De Grasse Universal Pictures films 1910s American films