![Sick Abed 04](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/19/Sick_Abed_04.jpg)
''Sick Abed'' is a 1920
silent comedy film produced by
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...
and distributed 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 ...
/Artcraft, an affiliate of Paramount. It was directed by
Sam Wood
Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...
and stars matinee idol
Wallace Reid
William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver.
Early life
Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...
. It is based on a 1918
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
stage play
A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Reading (process), reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright.
Pla ...
''Sick-a-bed'' by
Ethel Watts Mumford starring
Mary Boland
Mary Boland (born Marie Anne Boland; January 28, 1882 – June 23, 1965) was an American stage and film actress.
Early years
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boland was the daughter of repertory actor William Augustus Boland, and his wife M ...
. ''The spelling of the movie varies from the spelling of the play''.
This film survives at 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 ...
,
at the Forest of Arden Inn are domiciled John Weems (Steppling), his wife Constance (Greenwood), and Reginald Jay (Reid). At the request of Reginald, John takes a lady customer (Lazzarini) out to look at the boy's ranch property. John and the woman are held up on the road when their machine breaks down.
Meanwhile, Constance, who sees herself as a misunderstood wife, has been devoting her time to writing scenarios for motion pictures. She meets Reginald and insists that he play the part of the lover Orlando in her movie script. Jay then starts for the city in his automobile when he sees John and the lady customer coming out of a notorious roadhouse.
Reginald is shocked, but John explains that they had merely entered the place for shelter during a rain storm. John discharges his chauffeur and Jay drives him back to the Inn. To complicate matters for John, the discharged chauffeur tells Constance that John was in the roadhouse with a strange woman, whereupon Constance decides to obtain a divorce.
New staying in the city, John, aware that Reginald will be called as a witness since he has been served with a subpoena, induces Reginald to pretend that he is ill, and has hired two
quack
Quack, The Quack or Quacks may refer to:
People
* Quack Davis, American baseball player
* Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack (1834–1917), Dutch economist and historian
* Joachim Friedrich Quack (born 1966), German Egyptologist
* Johannes Quack (b ...
doctors, Drs. Macklyn (Geldart) and Widner (Littlefield), to carry out the scheme. The beautiful Nurse Durant (Daniels) is also hired, and Reginald quickly falls in love with her.
Constance obtains Reginald's temperature chart and obtains an order of the court for his examination by a neutral physician. When he realizes his nurse has been fired, Reginald jumps out of bed in pursuit of her. He finds her and brings her back.
Just before the neutral physician examines him, Nurse Durant kisses Reginald, and Dr. Flexner (Bolder) finds that Reginald's heart action registers badly. Constance, realizing that she has lost her Orlando, makes up her mind to retain her husband and asks his forgiveness. The two quack doctors then leave the place while the going is good.
Cast
*
Wallace Reid
William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver.
Early life
Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...
as Reginald Jay
*
Bebe Daniels
Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer.
She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals such ...
as Nurse Durant
*
John Steppling as John Weems
*
Winifred Greenwood
Winifred Greenwood (January 1, 1885 – November 23, 1961) was an American silent film actress.
Born in 1885 in Geneseo, New York, Greenwood studied to be a teacher but left New York Normal School to perform in vaudeville in the United St ...
as Constance Weems
*
Tully Marshall
Tully Marshall (born William Phillips; April 10, 1864 – March 10, 1943) was an American character actor. He had nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience before his debut film appearance in 1914 which led to a film career spanning alm ...
as Detective Chalmers
*
Clarence Geldart
Clarence Geldart (June 9, 1867 – May 13, 1935) was an American film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1915 and 1936. He was sometimes credited as C.H. Geldart or Charles H. Geldart.
He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and died i ...
as Dr. Macklyn
*
Lucien Littlefield
Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...
as Dr. Widner
*
Robert Bolder
Robert Bolder (20 July 1859 – 10 December 1937) was an English film actor of the silent film, silent era. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1912 and 1936. He was born in London and died in Los Angeles, California. In the early par ...
as Dr. Flexner
*Lorenza Lazzarini as Customer
*
George Kuwa
George Kuwa (born Keichii Kuwahara) was a Japanese and American Issei (Japanese immigrant) film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1916 and 1931. He was the first actor to portray Charlie Chan on-screen in the 19 ...
as Wing Chow
Reception
Laurence Reid, writing for
Motion Picture News
The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930.
History
The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founded ...
, gave it a favorable review on July 3, 1920, writing: "Here's one picture which does not have to rely upon dialogue to score. The original version
stage playcarried its mirth-provoking puns, too. But their absence is not felt because of the wealth of comedy business and the zest with which the players enact their parts."
See also
*
Wallace Reid filmography
This is a comprehensive listing of Wallace Reid's (1891–1923) silent film, silent film output. Reid often played a clean-cut, well-groomed American go-getter on screen, which is how he is best remembered, but he could alternate with character rol ...
References
External links
*
The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:''Sick Abed''''Sick Abed'' ; allmovie.comlobby poster, long
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sick Abed
1920 films
American silent feature films
American films based on plays
Films directed by Sam Wood
Famous Players-Lasky films
1920 comedy films
Silent American comedy films
American black-and-white films
1920s American films
1920s English-language films