![Belladonna-newspaper-scene-1915](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Belladonna-newspaper-scene-1915.jpg)
''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
*
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 ...
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>
See also
* List of lost films
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
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