''A Daughter of the Gods'' was a 1916 American silent

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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- ...

written and directed by Herbert Brenon. The film was controversial because of the sequences of what was regarded as superfluous nudity by the character Anitia, played by Australian swimming star

Annette Kellermann Annette Marie Sarah Kellermann (6 July 1887 – 6 November 1975) was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville star, film actress, and writer. Kellermann was one of the first women to wear a one-piece bathing costume, instead of the then ...

. The scene is regarded as the first complete nude scene by a major star, which occurred during a waterfall sequence, though most of Kellerman's body is covered by her long hair. It was filmed by Fox Film Corporation in Kingston, Jamaica, where huge sets were constructed, and directed by Herbert Brenon.

Background

Brenon served as writer of this original scenario/screenplay for the film. However, he more than likely saw and was influenced by David Belasco and

John Luther Long John Luther Long (January 1, 1861 – October 31, 1927) was an American lawyer and writer best known for his short story "Madame Butterfly", which was based on the recollections of his sister, Jennie Correll, who had been to Japan with her husba ...

's 1902 Broadway play ''The Darling of the Gods'' starring Blanche Bates, Robert T. Haines, and young George Arliss, which has a similar theme of reward for rescuing a child and a large ensemble cast. The play differs in that it is set in

feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inven ...

while the movie is backdropped in an undersea kingdom, not unlike Atlantis. Brenon made aspects of the play cinematic (underwater sequences, Kellerman's nudity, etc.) in an obvious effort to avoid charges of plagiarism of Belasco's play and hence a lawsuit.

Plot

A sultan agrees to help an evil witch destroy a mysterious beauty if the witch will bring his young son back to life.

Cast

Production

After receiving the film assignment with its budget limit of $1 million, director Brenon visited the

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where he was inspired by paintings such as ''A Dream of the Arabian Nights'' by Villegas. The opening scene of the film was claimed to be a composite of Cabanel's '' The Birth of Venus'' and Coypel's ''Venus Frolicking in the Sea with Nymphs''. The film is credited as the first US production to cost at least $1 million ($ in ) to produce, with actual costs just exceeding $1.1 million ($ in ). Studio head William Fox was so incensed with the cost of production he removed Herbert Brenon's name from the film. However, Brenon sued to have his name restored to the film's credits, and won. Advertising for the film would often note its million dollar cost. Great cost was afforded to make a sanitary of mosquito-proofing over a section of Kingston, Jamaica. Sets consumed of plaster, of

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel (aggregate) together. Cement mixe ...

, of lumber, and ten tons of paper. Director Herbert Brenon employed 20,000 people during the eight months of production and used of film to shoot the picture. The Moorish city cost $350,000 ($ in ) to build, and was destroyed in one climactic scene. The total number of persons appearing in it was 21,218, which included 200 mermaids, and 300 dancing girls and women of the Sultan's harem. The 100 women recruited from the US and Europe to portray nymphs underwent weeks of training by Kellerman to swim using a single stroke in unison and to avoid unnecessary splashing. An original score was composed for the film by

Robert Hood Bowers Robert Hood Bowers (24 May 1877 - 29 December 1941) was an American composer, conductor and musical director of operettas and stage musicals, and a conductor and musical director for radio. He composed the musical scores for some of the most popul ...

, which was played by an orchestra during each screening. It was considered the most memorable film score up to that time.

Reception

The existing film censorship boards in the United States and Canada and the National Board of Review passed the film in spite of its brief nudity scene, calling it artistic. Fox made general distribution of the film for the 1916 December holiday season. President

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and his wife, to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, attended the film's December 18, 1916 showing at the Belasco Theater, where it opened in Washington, D.C. Prior to this, the Wilsons had only seen films shown at the White House.

Preservation

Although stills and publicity photos have survived, ''A Daughter of the Gods'' is 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 ...

.''A Daughter of the Gods'' at TheGreatStars.com; Lost Films Wanted
(Wayback Machine)

Notes

References

The Picture Show Man entry

( ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091024171710/http://geocities.com/emruf1/adotg.html Archived2009-10-23)
"Kellermann Film Shown at the Lyric; ''Daughter of the Gods'' an Elaborate Amphibious Picture for the Submersible Star."
''The New York Times'' (October 18, 1916) *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Daughter Of The Gods, A 1916 films 1910s fantasy drama films Fox Film films Films about mermaids American fantasy drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Herbert Brenon Films shot in Jamaica Lost American films 1916 lost films Lost fantasy drama films 1916 drama films 1910s American films Silent American drama films Silent horror films