''Bella Donna'' was a 1915 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 ...

produced by

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

and the

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...

Company, starring

Pauline Frederick Pauline Frederick (born Pauline Beatrice Libbey, August 12, 1883 – September 19, 1938) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Frederick was born Pauline Beatrice Libbey (later changed to Libby) in Boston in 1883 (some sources stat ...

, and based on the 1912 play ''Bella Donna'' by

James Bernard Fagan James Bernard Fagan (18 May 1873 – 17 February 1933) was an Irish-born actor, theatre manager, producer and playwright active in England. After turning from the law to the stage, Fagan began his acting career, including four years from 1895 t ...

adapted from the 1909 novel of the same name by

Robert Smythe Hichens Robert Hichens (Robert Smythe Hichens, 14 November 1864 – 20 July 1950) was an English journalist, novelist, music lyricist, short story writer, music critic and collaborated on successful plays. He is best remembered as a satirist of the " ...

. In 1912,

Alla Nazimova Alla Nazimova (Russian: Алла Назимова; born Marem-Ides Leventon, Russian: Марем-Идес Левентон; June 3 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._May_22.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O ...

starred in a Broadway stage version which ran for 72 performances. A second version of the novel and play was filmed in 1923 starring

Pola Negri Pola Negri (; born Apolonia Chalupec ; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femm ...

Plot

Cast

as Bella Donna *

Thomas Holding Thomas J. Holding (25 January 1880 – 4 May 1929) was a British-born stage and film actor. Biography Born in England in 1880, Holding possibly had an extensive stage career in his native Britain before arriving in the United States. He was po ...

as Nigel Armine *

Julian L'Estrange Julian L'Estrange (born Julian Boyle; 6 August 1880 – 22 October 1918) was an English-born stage actor who later made a handful of silent films for Paramount Pictures. He married fellow performer Constance Collier at All Saints Church in Londo ...

as Baroudi *Eugene Ormonde as Doctor Isaacson *George Majeroni as Ibraham *Edmund Shalet as Hamza *Helen Sinnott as The Maid * Betty Blythe as a dancer (uncredited)

Preservation status

The 1915 version is now considered to be 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 ...

.The Pauline Frederick webpage, ''Bella Donna''
/ref>

References

External links

* *
''Bella Donna''
at silentera.com 1915 films 1915 drama films 1910s English-language films Silent American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Famous Players-Lasky films Films based on British novels American films based on plays Films directed by Edwin S. Porter Films directed by Hugh Ford Lost American films Paramount Pictures films Films based on adaptations 1915 lost films Lost drama films 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Preservation status

See also

References

External links