''Big Brother'' is a 1923 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-g ...
directed by
Allan Dwan
Allan Dwan (born Joseph Aloysius Dwan; April 3, 1885 – December 28, 1981) was a pioneering Canadian-born American motion picture director, producer, and screenwriter.
Early life
Born Joseph Aloysius Dwan in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Dwan, was ...
and written by
Rex Beach
Rex Ellingwood Beach (September 1, 1877 – December 7, 1949) was an American novelist, playwright, and Olympic water polo player.
Early life
Rex Beach was born in Atwood, Michigan, but moved to Tampa, Florida, with his family where his father ...
and
Paul Sloane
Paul Sloane (April 19, 1893 November 15, 1963) was an American screenwriter and film director who directed 26 films from 1925 to 1952, and wrote or co-wrote 35 films. His movies include ''Hearts in Dixie'' (1929) with Stepin Fetchit, ''The Wom ...
. The film stars
Tom Moore,
Edith Roberts Edith Roberts may refer to:
* Edith Roberts (actress), American silent film actress
* Edith A. Roberts, American botanist
* Edith Roberts (writer) Edith Roberts may refer to:
* Edith Roberts (actress)
Edith Roberts ( – August 20, 19 ...
,
Raymond Hatton
Raymond William Hatton (July 7, 1887 – October 21, 1971) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 500 motion pictures.
Biography
Hatton was born in Red Oak, Iowa. His physician father steered him toward a career in medicine. Howev ...
,
Joe King, Mickey Bennett, Charles Henderson, and
Paul Panzer
Paul Wolfgang Panzerbeiter (November 3, 1872 – August 16, 1958), known professionally as Paul Panzer, was a German-American silent film actor. He appeared in more than 330 films between 1905 and 1952.
Biography
Panzer was born in Würzburg. ...
. The film was released on December 23, 1923, by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
''Big Brother'' was shot at the
Astoria Studios
The Kaufman Astoria Studios is a film studio located in the Astoria section of the New York City borough of Queens. The studio was constructed for Famous Players-Lasky in 1920, since it was close to Manhattan's Broadway theater district. The p ...
with extensive
location shooting
Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior.
The filming location may be the same in which the story is set (for exam ...
around
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Noted at the time for its realism, it is now considered 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 ...
. It was
remade
Bas-Lag is the fictional world in which several of English author China Miéville's novels are set. Bas-Lag is a world where both magic (referred to as "thaumaturgy") and steampunk technology exist, and is home to many intelligent races. It is inf ...
as a
sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed before ...
in 1931 as ''
Young Donovan's Kid
''Young Donovan's Kid'' is a 1931 American pre-Code melodrama film directed by Fred Niblo, from a screenplay by J. Walter Ruben, based upon the short story, ''Big Brother'', by Rex Beach. It was a remake of a 1923 silent film of the same, produ ...
''.
Plot
As described in a film magazine review, Jimmy Donovan, gang leader in the
East Side of New York City, protects Midge Murray when the latter's brother is slain. Jim decides that he must reform and bring up Midge decently. However, a court takes possession of Midge away from him. Jim, disgusted, plans a raid but then abandons the idea. His gang commits a robbery, and Jim and his girlfriend Kitty are accused of it. Jim escapes, recovers the loot and custody of Midge, and wins back the affection of Kitty.
Cast
Preservation
With no prints of ''Big Brother'' located in any film archives,
The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Big Brother''
/ref> it is a lost film.
References
Bibliography
* Lombardi, Frederic (2013). ''Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios''. McFarland & Company .
External links
*
*
Lantern slide and window card
1923 films
1920s English-language films
Silent American drama films
1923 drama films
Paramount Pictures films
Films directed by Allan Dwan
American black-and-white films
Lost American films
American silent feature films
Films based on works by Rex Beach
Films shot at Astoria Studios
1923 lost films
Lost drama films
1920s American films
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