''I Will Repay'' is a 1923 British silent

period film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

directed by

Henry Kolker Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 ome sources 1870– July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and director. Early years Kolker was born in Quincy, Illinois. Career Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Wa ...

and starring

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sou ...

Flora le Breton Flora Le Breton (1899 – 11 July 1951 in Brooklyn, New York City) was an English silent film actress from Croydon, Surrey, England. She was a dainty blonde with dark blue eyes. In the UK she was called both ''the British Mary Pickford'' an ...

, and Pedro de Cordoba. It was based on the 1906 novel '' I Will Repay'' by

Emma Orczy Baroness Emma Orczy (full name: Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála Orczy de Orci) (; 23 September 1865 – 12 November 1947), usually known as Baroness Orczy (the name under which she was published) or to her family and friends as Em ...

, which is a sequel to ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'' (part of a large series of such novels). It was released in the United States under the

alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...

''Swords and the Woman''.Progressive Silent Film List: ''I Will Repay''
at silentera.com

Plot

The film takes place in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, 1793, during the Reign of Terror following the start of the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. Paul de Roulade (Pedro de Cordoba) is a hero to the Proletariat, who cry him 'Citizen de Roulade'. One evening he gets into an argument with the Vicomte de Marny over the virtues of a dancing girl; this leads to a fight (provoked by the viscount), forcing Paul to kill the nobleman. The viscount's sister Juliette de Marny (Flora le Breton) swears revenge: to achieve this, she infiltrates the de Roulade household and beguiles Paul into falling in love with her. It is revealed that Paul has secret Royalist sympathies and, wary of the bloodshed, he decides to smuggle Marie Antoinette out of France . To do this, he enlists the aid of none other than the

Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

(Holmes Herbert). When Juliette learns of Paul's intrigue, she realises that this is her chance to get revenge by betraying him to the Jacquards. Or will she fall in love with him as he has with her? Meanwhile, we get a few scenes of Charlotte Corday on trial for the murder of

Marat Marat may refer to: People *Marat (given name) *Marat (surname) **Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793), French political theorist, physician and scientist Arts, entertainment, and media *''Marat/Sade'', a 1963 play by Peter Weiss * ''Marat/Sade'' (fil ...

Cast

as Sir Percy Blakeney *

as Juliette de Mornay * Pedro de Cordoba as Paul Deroulede *

Ivan Samson Ivan Samson (28 August 1894 – 1 May 1963) was a British stage, film and television actor. Samson appeared regularly in West End plays and from 1920 began appearing in British silent films. He played Viscount de Mornay in '' I Will Repay'' ...

as Viscount de Mornay * A.B. Imeson as Tinville *

Georges Tréville Georges Tréville (28 July 1875 – 30 May 1944) was a French actor and film director. Born as Georges Troly, during the silent era, he played the gentlemen thief Arsène Lupin in several short films. He also went to Britain to direct and star ...

as Duc de Mornay * Robert Lang as Villefranche

References

External links

* * 1923 films British silent feature films Films directed by Henry Kolker Scarlet Pimpernel films Ideal Film Company films Films set in France Films set in England Films set in 1793 1920s historical films British historical films British black-and-white films Films based on works by Emma Orczy 1920s English-language films 1920s British films Silent adventure films {{1920s-UK-film-stub