''The Bait'' is a 1921 American silent

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

film produced by and starring

Hope Hampton Hope Hampton (Mae Elizabeth Hampton; February 19, 1897 – January 23, 1982) was an American silent motion picture actress and producer, who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of siren and flapper types in silent-picture roles d ...

, directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice may refer to: People *Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr *Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor *Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and Lo ...

, 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 ...

. John Gilbert, then working for Tourneur, wrote the scenario (silent film version of a screenplay) based on the stage play ''The Tiger Lady'' by

Sidney Toler Sidney Toler (born Hooper G. Toler Jr., April 28, 1874 – February 12, 1947) was an American actor, playwright, and theatre director. The second European-American actor to play the role of Charlie Chan on screen, he is best remembered for his p ...

. Filmed in 1920, the picture was released a day after New Year's 1921. ''The Bait'' is now considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. This 1921 release should not be confused with the 1916 film ''The Bait'', which was directed by William J. Bowman and starred

Betty Harte Betty Harte (1882–1965) was a leading lady during the heyday of the silent film era, starring in nine feature films and 108 short films. She is credited with writing four screenplays. She chose Betty Harte as her professional name in honor of ...

and William Clifford.“The Bait (1916)”
AFI. Retrieved October 7, 2018.

Plot

Joan Grainger (Hampton) is about to be "sent up" to prison after being falsely accused of stealing when she is kidnapped by Bennett Barton (McDonald),

mastermind Mastermind, Master Mind or The Mastermind may refer to: Fictional characters * Mastermind (Jason Wyngarde), a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics, a title also held by his daughters: ** Martinique Jason, the first daughter and successor of the ...

of a band of crooks of which Simpson (Singleton) is a member. Joan accepts Bennett's assistance when he sends her to Europe and later joins her. They live in luxury when she meets John Warren (Woodward), a wealthy American. Joan receives her first jar of suspicion when Bennett introduces her to John as being Bennett's daughter. Bennett later tells her the plan is for her to marry John so that they will have access to the money. The girl rebels but Bennett threatens to send her back to prison or, still worse, expose her to John, with whom she has now fallen in love. The entire party return to the United States where Bennett forces Joan to accept John's proposal of marriage. In the meantime some members of Bennett's gang have double-crossed him and tell Joan of the original theft

frame-up __NOTOC__ In the United States criminal law, a frame-up (frameup) or setup is the act of framing someone, that is, providing false evidence or false testimony in order to falsely prove someone guilty of a crime. While incriminating those who a ...

. A signed confession is secured from the girl that did the framing. In the effort to secure the confession, Bennett is killed by Simpson, who had been after the "goods" on Bennett. John is willing to have Joan despite all of this and they are happy.

Cast

as Joan Grainger *Harry Woodward as John Warren, 'The Fish' * Jack McDonald as Bennett Barton, 'The Fisherman' * James Gordon as John Garson, 'The Game Warden' *Rae Ebberly as Dolly, 'The Hooked' * Joe Singleton as Simpson, 'The Bait-Catcher' *Poupee Andriot as Madeline, 'The Minnow' *Dan Crimmins, Jr. as Jimmy, 'The Bullfish'

References

External links

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Lobby poster
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bait, The 1921 films 1920s English-language films 1921 crime drama films American crime drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films directed by Maurice Tourneur Lost American films 1921 lost films Paramount Pictures films 1921 drama films 1920s American films Silent American drama films