''Morals'' is a 1921 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

William Desmond Taylor William Desmond Taylor (born William Cunningham Deane-Tanner, 26 April 1872 – 1 February 1922) was an Anglo-Irish-American film director and actor. A popular figure in the growing Hollywood motion picture colony of the 1910s and early 1920s, ...

and starring

May McAvoy May Irene McAvoy (September 8, 1899 – April 26, 1984) was an American actress who worked mainly during the silent-film era. Some of her major roles are Laura Pennington in '' The Enchanted Cottage'', Esther in '' Ben-Hur'', and Mary Dale ...

William P. Carleton William P. Carleton (October 3, 1872 – April 6, 1947) was a silent film actor who appeared in 40 films between 1919 and 1944. He is sometimes billed as William Carleton Jr.. Carleton was born in London and was briefly married to actress Toby C ...

, and

Marian Skinner Marian Skinner (January 8, 1880 – June 7, 1963), was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 50 films between 1915 and 1924. She was born in New York, New York, and died in San Francisco, California. Select ...

. It is based on a 1905 novel, '' The Morals of Marcus Ordeyne'' by William J. Locke, which was produced as a 1907 Broadway play starring

Marie Doro Marie Doro (born Marie Katherine Stewart; May 25, 1882 – October 9, 1956) was an American stage and film actress of the early silent film era. She was first noticed as a chorus-girl by impresario Charles Frohman, who took her to Broadway, whe ...

who later made her screen debut in a 1915

film version A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

. A British talking version of Locke's story was made in 1935 as '' The Morals of Marcus''.

Plot

A woman escapes the Turkish

harem Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...

in which she has been brought up and flees to London in the company of a British adventurer.

Cast

as Carlotta *

as Sir Marcus Ordeyne * W.E. Lawrence as Sebastian Pasquale *

as Mrs McMurray *

Nick De Ruiz Nicholas De Ruiz (February, 1871 – June 21, 1959) was an American actor. He appeared in 36 films between 1920 and 1938. He was born in Santa Barbara, California and died in Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángel ...

as Hamdi * Starke Patteson as Harry *

Kathlyn Williams Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams, May 31, 1879 – September 23, 1960) was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics, who performed on stage as well as in early silent film. She began her career onstage in ...

as Judith Mainwaring *

Bridgetta Clark Bridgetta Clark (born Ruth Porter Clark, January 13, 1891 – November 1980) was an American silent film actress. Her career was brief having appeared in only five films between 1921 and 1926. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Clark was the ...

as Antoinette *

Sidney Bracey Sidney Bracey (born Sidney Bracy; 18 December 1877 – 5 August 1942) was an Australian-born American actor. After a stage career in Australia, on Broadway and in Britain, he performed in more than 320 films between 1909 and 1942. Early lif ...

as Stinson

Preservation status

This film is preserved in the collection of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

.The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Morals''
/ref>

References

External links

* * 1921 films American silent feature films 1920s English-language films Films directed by William Desmond Taylor Films based on British novels Silent American drama films American black-and-white films 1921 drama films Remakes of American films 1920s American films {{silent-drama-film-stub