''A Lost Lady'' is a 1924 American

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 ...

directed by

Harry Beaumont Harry Beaumont (10 February 1888 – 22 December 1966) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including 20th Century Fox, Fox, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn, Metro Picture ...

and written by

Dorothy Farnum Dorothy Farnum (10 June 1900 – 27 January 1970) was an American actress and screenwriter. She was noted for her work at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer during the silent era and later in Britain during the 1930s. Career Farnum was the daughter of actor Wi ...

. It is based on the 1923 novel ''

A Lost Lady ''A Lost Lady'' is a 1923 novel by American writer Willa Cather. It tells the story of Marian Forrester and her husband, Captain Daniel Forrester, who live in the Western town of Sweet Water along the Transcontinental Railroad. Throughout the st ...

'' by

Willa Cather Willa Sibert Cather (; born Wilella Sibert Cather; December 7, 1873 – April 24, 1947) was an American writer known for her novels of life on the Great Plains, including '' O Pioneers!'', '' The Song of the Lark'', and '' My Ántonia''. In 192 ...

. The film stars

Irene Rich Irene Rich (born Irene Frances Luther; October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies, as well as radio. Early life Rich was born in Buffalo, New York. At age 17, she wed Elvo Elc ...

, Matt Moore,

June Marlowe June Marlowe (born Gisela Valaria Goetten, November 6, 1903 – March 10, 1984) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. She was best known for her performance of "Miss Crabtree" in the ''Our Gang'' sho ...

, John Roche,

Victor Potel Victor Potel (October 12, 1889 – March 8, 1947) was an American film character actor who began in the silent era and appeared in more than 430 films in his 38-year career. Career Victor Potel was born in Lafayette, Indiana in 1889, and hi ...

, and

George Fawcett George Fawcett (August 25, 1860 – June 6, 1939) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1860, Fawcett graduated from the University of Virginia. His initial inclination was to ...

. The film was released by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

on December 18, 1924.

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, married to Captain Forrester (Fawcett), an elderly railroad builder of great wealth, Marian Forrester (Rich) feels the call of youth and love and begins to get away. Her chance comes when Frank Ellinger (Roche) becomes interested in her and finally persuades her to elope. Just as they start out, she learns that her husband has beggared himself by giving away his fortune to save a workingman's bank, so she returns. Later, when it seems that she can stand no more, she finds out that Frank, who she believed would return to her, is to marry someone else. She tries to go to him but misses the train, so she goes to Neil Herbert (Moore), who has always admired her. She calls Frank, who turns her down but suggests that they can keep seeing each other. Enraged, she starts to rebuke him, but Neil cuts the wire to end the call. Neil takes her back to her husband, who then dies. Utterly dejected, she gives way to despair, taking to drink and becoming slovenly in appearance. Neil sticks to her and tries to help her to fight back, until he finds her affectionate with a low country fellow. Disgusted, he tells her that lilies that decay are worse than weeds, and leaves her. Years later, when Neil's views have softened with age, he meets a friend who tells him that he saw Marian in South America. She was apparently happy and prosperous, the wife of a wealthy old man.

Cast

Preservation status

With no prints of ''A Lost Lady'' located in any film archives,The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''A Lost Lady''
/ref> it is a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

References

External links

* * * 1924 films 1920s English-language films Silent American drama films 1924 drama films Warner Bros. films Films directed by Harry Beaumont American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films based on works by Willa Cather Lost American drama films 1924 lost films English-language drama films 1920s American films {{1920s-drama-film-stub