''Mantrap'' is a 1926 American silent comedy film based on the novel of the same name by Sinclair Lewis. ''Mantrap'' stars Clara Bow, Percy Marmont, Ernest Torrence, Ford Sterling, and Eugene Pallette, and was directed by

Victor Fleming Victor Lonzo Fleming (February 23, 1889 – January 6, 1949) was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were ''Gone with the Wind (film), Gone with the Wind'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best ...

Plot

Ralph Prescott (Marmont) is a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

divorce lawyer tired of his clientele. Woodbury (Pallette), who runs a ladies hosiery business across the hall, suggests that they get away from the city and camp in Mantrap, Canada. Bachelor Joe Easter (Torrence) runs a dry-goods store in Mantrap. Joe, wanting female company, goes to Minneapolis. In a barbershop there, backwoods Joe meets flirtatious manicurist Alverna (Bow), who agrees to meet Joe for dinner. Prescott and Woodbury fight while camping. Joe separates them by taking Prescott back to Mantrap—where Prescott meets Alverna, now married to Joe and bored with backwoods life. Alverna throws a party and flirts, especially with Prescott, who's attracted to her but honorable enough to leave the next day. Alverna waits for Prescott's outbound canoe, stops him, and tells him that she's leaving with him. Alverna insults their Native American guide, who takes the canoe, leaving Prescott and Alverna on their own in the woods. They flag down a passing float plane, which lands in the lake. Alverna flirts with the pilot, angering Prescott. The pilot leaves them some food. Joe tracks them and, after a few days, catches them. Prescott tells Joe he'll marry Alverna if Joe grants a divorce; Joe counters by telling Prescott that Alverna will never stop flirting. Alverna, shut out by the men who are planning her future, takes the canoe and leaves them both. Prescott returns to his law practice, refreshed by his time in the woods. Joe, lonely in his Mantrap store, defends Alverna to his prudish neighbors—and Alverna returns to Joe, but keeps flirting.

Cast

* Clara Bow as

Alverna La Verna ( la, Alverna is a locality on Mount Penna ( it, Monte Penna), an isolated mountain of situated in the centre of the Tuscany, Tuscan Apennine Mountains, Apennines, rising above the valley of the Casentino, central Italy. The place is k ...

* Ernest Torrence as Joe Easter * Ford Sterling as Character * Percy Marmont as Ralph Prescott * Eugene Pallette as E. Wesson Woodbury * Tom Kennedy as Curly Evans * Josephine Crowell as Mrs. McGavity * William Orlamond as Mr. McGavity * Charles Stevens as Lawrence Jackfish (Indian Guide) * Miss DuPont as Mrs. Barker *Charlotte Bird as Stenographer * Ed Brady as Trapper (uncredited) *

Lon Poff Alonzo M. "Lon" Poff (February 8, 1870 – August 8, 1952) was an American film actor who appeared in almost 100 films between 1917 and 1951. Born in Bedford, Indiana, he was the son of Mrs. Mary E. Poff, and he had a sister, Grace Poff. H ...

as Minister (uncredited) * Rolfe Sedan as Barber (uncredited)

Reception

Lewis himself was not a fan of the 1926 adaptation. In the introduction to their 1985 edition of

Claude Lewis Claude Lewis (27 July 1908 – 27 April 1993) was an English cricketer. He played 128 first-class matches for Kent between 1933 and 1953.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part Two: 1919–1939'', pp. 109–113.Available onli ...

' journal of their Saskatchewan trip, John J. Koblas and

Dave Page Dave Page (born 1939) is considered the world's leading expert on mountaineering footwear history, as well as an expert cobbler (a hiking boot repairman). He is a former history professor at the University of Washington and is a cobbler based in ...

recount that while Sinclair Lewis was writing '' Elmer Gantry'', he and his brother and Claude's wife went to the small theatre in Pequot Lake, where Sinclair was writing. The only film playing was ''Mantrap''. The editors continue: :"Following the movie, the manager of the theatre, who had during the course of the film recognized Red Lewis in the audience, proudly announced that the author of ''Mantrap'' was present and requested that he come on stage and address the moviegoers. Lewis was quick to comply, and he shocked both the manager and the audience by stating he was glad he had read the book, for he would not have recognized it from the movie."Lewis, Claude. ''Sinclair Lewis and Mantrap: The Saskatchewan Trip''. Edited with an Introduction by Koblas, John J. & Dave Page. Madison: The Main Street Press, 1985, p. xxi-xxii

References

External links

* *
UCLA Film & Television Archive
at silentera.com

at silentfilmstillarchive.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mantrap (Film) 1926 films 1920s English-language films 1926 comedy films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films based on American novels Films based on works by Sinclair Lewis Films directed by Victor Fleming Paramount Pictures films Films produced by B. P. Schulberg 1920s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links