''For the Defense'' is a 1922 American silent mystery film 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 t ...

and distributed 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 ...

. It is based on the 1919 Broadway play, ''For the Defense'', by

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...

Ethel Clayton Ethel Clayton (November 8, 1882 – June 6, 1966) was an American actress of the silent film era. Early years Born in Champaign, Illinois, Clayton attended St. Elizabeth's school in Chicago. Career Clayton debuted on stage as a professional ...

is the star of the film. 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 o ...

for decades, a print was discovered in the Netherlands by the

EYE Film Institute Netherlands Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in t ...

(or Nederlands Filmmuseum).Progressive Silent Film List: ''For the Defense''
at silentera.com

Cast

as Anne Woodstock *

Vernon Steele Vernon Steele (born Arturo Romeo Antonietti; 18 September 1882 – 23 July 1955) was a Chilean-born British actor known for his appearances on the Broadway stage and in American films. He often played patrician young men in silent films. Steele w ...

as Christopher Armstrong *

ZaSu Pitts Zasu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who starred in many silent dramas, including Erich von Stroheim's epic 1924 silent film ''Greed'', and comedies, transitioning successfully to mostly comedy films with the ...

as Jennie Dunn *

Bertram Grassby Bertram Grassby (23 December 1880 – 7 December 1953) was an English actor. He appeared in more than 90 silent era films between 1914 and 1927. Grassby was married to American actress Gerard Alexander. He was born in Lincolnshire, England a ...

as Dr. Joseph Kasimir *

Mayme Kelso Mayme Kelso (February 28, 1867 – June 5, 1946) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1911 and 1927. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, and died in South Pasadena, California from a heart attack ...

as Smith (credited as Maym Kelso) *

Sylvia Ashton Sylvia Ashton (January 26, 1880 – November 18, 1940) was an American film actress of the silent film era. Ashton was born in Denver, Colorado. She bore a heavyset resemblance to Jane Darwell and like Darwell was playing mother and grand ...

as Signora Bartoni *

Mabel Van Buren Mabel Van Buren (born Mabel Brown Southard; July 17, 1878 – November 4, 1947) was an American stage and screen actress. Biography As a theatrical performer she played the leading lady in both ''The Virginian'' and ''The Squaw Man'' (190 ...

as Cousin Selma

References

External links

* * 1922 films American silent feature films American films based on plays Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Paul Powell (director) 1922 mystery films American black-and-white films 1920s rediscovered films American mystery films Rediscovered American films 1920s American films Silent mystery films 1920s English-language films {{mystery-film-stub