''Green Eyes'' is a 1918 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

Roy William Neill Roy William Neill (4 September 1887 – 14 December 1946) was an Irish-born American film director best known for directing the last eleven of the fourteen Sherlock Holmes films starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, made between 1943 and 19 ...

and written by Ella Stuart Carson, John Lynch, and

R. Cecil Smith Reginald Cecil Smith (September 27, 1880 – December 18, 1922) was an American screenwriter and actor active during Hollywood's silent era. He collaborated frequently with his wife, Ella Stuart Carson, and the pair often wrote under the name t ...

. The film stars

Dorothy Dalton Dorothy Dalton (September 22, 1893 – April 13, 1972) was an American silent film actress and stage personality who worked her way from a stock company to a movie career. Beginning in 1910, Dalton was a player in stock companies in Chicago; Te ...

, Jack Holt, Emory Johnson,

Doris May Doris May (born Helen Garrett; October 15, 1902 – May 12, 1984), was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 29 films between 1917 and 1927, generally as a leading lady. Most of her roles were in western film, westerns and come ...

, Robert McKim, and Clyde Benson. The film was released on August 11, 1918, 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 not known whether the film currently survives.

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, hardly had Pearson Hunter (Holt) returned to the south with his young bride Shirley (Dalton) than he flew into a jealous rage because his wife knew one of the men in the welcoming party. Later, when the two lost their way while on a hunting trip, he vented an unreasonable rage upon her. Margery Gibson (May), fiancé of his brother Morgan (Johnson), felt the pangs of the green-eyed monster whenever Morgan showed his sister-in-law the slightest courtesy. She confided her suspicions to Pearson. In the meantime Morgan, resenting a slur upon his brother's wife by Alexander Chapman (McKim), fell him with a blow. A

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

who hated Chapman was lurking nearby and choked the prostrate man to death. Morgan, thinking he was a murderer, fled in panic and hid in his sister-in-law's room, where he was found by his brother Pearson. Pearson at once passed judgement and did not want to hear explanations, but later after learning the truth upon hearing the confession of the mulatto, he sought forgiveness and promised to banish jealousy from his life.

Cast

as Shirley Hunter * Jack Holt as Pearson Hunter *

Emory Johnson Alfred Emory Johnson (March 16, 1894 – April 18, 1960) was an American actor, director, producer, and writer. As a teenager, he started acting in silent films. Early in his career, Carl Laemmle chose Emory to become a Universal studio leading ...

as Morgan Hunter *

as Margery Gibson * Robert McKim as Alexander Chapman *Clyde Benson as Jim Webb *

Charles K. French Charles K. French (born Charles Ekrauss French or Charles E. Krauss; January 17, 1860 – August 2, 1952) was an American film actor, screenwriter and director who appeared in more than 240 films between 1909 and 1945. Biography French was ...

as Reverend Doctor Gibson

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''Green Eyes'' was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors removed slurs by required a cut, in Reel 1, of the intertitle "You white

nigger In the English language, the word ''nigger'' is an ethnic slur used against black people, especially African Americans. Starting in the late 1990s, references to ''nigger'' have been progressively replaced by the euphemism , notably in cases ...

, how dare you talk to a gentlemen" and, in Reel 4, the intertitle "I'se the white nigger you kicked in the dirt".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0009134, Green Eyes 1918 films 1910s English-language films Silent American drama films 1918 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Roy William Neill American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1910s American films