''Red Hot Romance'' is a 1922 American silent comedy film 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 ...

. A fragmentary print survives in 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 ...

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 ...

, young American Rowland Stone (Sydney) receives $50 per week from the estate of his rich uncle until he reaches age 25, at which time, according to the will, he is to hear of further bequests. He is in love with Anna Mae (Collins), the daughter of an old Virginia family, the head of which, Colonel Cassius Byrd (Connelly), has been waiting 40 years for a diplomatic post. The young man pawns all of his furniture to get her presents. When the day of his big inheritance arrives, Rowland discovers that he is to receive $25 per week and must serve one year as an insurance agent to prove his worth before he can secure his fortune. His sweetheart has gone with her father to the nation of Bunkonia in South America, so the new insurance agent sees there some fertile fields and sets sail with his valet Thomas (Wilson). In Bunkonia he meets the villainous Jim Conwell (Atwell), the best families, King Caramba XIII (Lalor) and his cabinet, and he insures everyone in sight. Jim knows the terms of the will and plots a revolution, knowing that the insured king and cabinet will be the first to die and thus ruin the insurance agent. The Colonel, now a counsel, is imprisoned by the plotters and Jim kidnaps Anna Mae, compelling Rowland to save the king, cabinet, sweetheart, and counsel for the sake of insurance, love, and country. During the revolution Rowland is in the difficult position of being unable to kill any of the plotters since they carry policies with his insurance companies. In spite of this handicap, they are all saved with the arrival of the U.S. Marines.

Cast

Basil Sydney Basil Sydney (23 April 1894 – 10 January 1968) was an English stage and screen actor. Career Sydney made his name in 1915 in the London stage hit ''Romance'' by Edward Sheldon, with Broadway star Doris Keane, and he costarred with Keane in ...

as Rowland Stone *

Henry Warwick Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) *Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

as Lord Howe-Greene *Frank Lalor as King Caramba XIII *

Carl Stockdale Carl Stockdale also known as Carlton Stockdale (February 19, 1874 – March 15, 1953) was one of the longest-working Hollywood veteran actors, with a career dating from the early 1910s. He also made the difficult transition from silent fi ...

as General De Castanet * Olive Valerie as Madame Puloff de Plotz *

Edward Connelly Edward Connelly (December 30, 1859 – November 21, 1928) was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. Biography Connelly had a Broadway theater career going back to the Victorian era. His Broadway credits include ''The Wild Du ...

as Colonel Cassius Byrd *

May Collins May Collins (May 26, 1903 – May 6, 1955) was an American actress on stage and in silent films, was the star in several of the first of the modern romantic comedies to reach the movie screen. Biography The daughter of Benjamin Collins and Li ...

as Anna Mae Byrd *

Roy Atwell John Leroy "Roy" Atwell (May 2, 1878 – February 6, 1962) was an American actor, comedian and composer, known for playing characters that mis-deliver their lines or stammer, most notably Doc from Walt Disney's classic Snow White and the Seven Dwa ...

as Jim Conwell * Tom Wilson as Thomas Snow *

Lillian Leighton Lillianne Brown Leighton (May 17, 1874 – March 19, 1956), known professionally as Lillian Leighton, was an American silent film actress. Leighton started her career in Chicago. Leighton was born in Auroraville, Wisconsin, on May 17, 187 ...

as Mammy *

Snitz Edwards Snitz Edwards (born Edward Neumann, 1 January 1868 – 1 May 1937) was a stage and character actor of the early years of the silent film era into the 1930s. Biography Born into a Jewish household on New Year's Day 1868 in Budapest, Hungary ( ...

as Signor Frijole

Production

An early working title for the film was ''Wife Insurance''. The full scenario for the film was published in Emerson's and Loos's book ''Breaking Into the Movies'' (1921).

References

External links

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1922 films Films directed by Victor Fleming American black-and-white films American silent feature films Films with screenplays by Anita Loos Silent American comedy films 1922 comedy films 1920s American films {{1920s-comedy-film-stub