''The Branding Iron'' is a 1920 American silent

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed by

Reginald Barker Reginald C. Barker (April 2, 1886 – February 23, 1945) was a pioneer film director. Biography Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Barker's family moved to Scotland when he was an infant and then to the United States. Living in California, ...

and starring Barbara Castleton and James Kirkwood. It was produced by Barker and Samuel Goldwyn and distributed by

Goldwyn Pictures Goldwyn Pictures Corporation was an American motion picture production company that operated from 1916 to 1924 when it was merged with two other production companies to form the major studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was founded on November 19, 1 ...

. Castleton appeared

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

in the film, which caused the particular scene to be cut in some parts of the country. Pennsylvania banned the film altogether due to the topic of

infidelity Infidelity (synonyms include cheating, straying, adultery, being unfaithful, two-timing, or having an affair) is a violation of a couple's emotional and/or sexual exclusivity that commonly results in feelings of anger, sexual jealousy, and riva ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, Joan Carver runs away from her dissolute father and then meets and marries Pierre Landis, a young rancher. The father informs Pierre that he has married "the darter of a bad woman." After becoming jealous over an incident between Joan and the Reverend Frank Holliwell, Pierre flies into a rage and brands the young woman. Prosper Gael, a playwright on a hunting trip, walks into the cabin, shoots Pierre, and then takes Joan to his mountain cottage, which he had prepared to receive Betty Morena, the wife of a New York City

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

. He tells Joan that Pierre is dead, but later after she learns that Pierre is still alive, she attempts to return to him. Prosper finds her and brings her back to the cottage. She then runs away, feeling that she has sinned irretrievably against Pierre, and secures on an Arizona ranch, where the Morenas are staying. Pierre seeks her, and she goes with the Morenas to New York City, where Gael's latest play is about to be produced. The drama is written around the incident of the branding of Joan by Pierre. Pierre, attending the opening night performance, is moved by the play and sees Joan in the audience. He follows her to the Morena apartments, begs for her forgiveness, and there is a reconciliation between the two. The Branding Iron (1920) - Barbara Castleton

Cast

Censorship

The film included a scene in which Joan (Castleton) bathes in a mountain brook. The

Pennsylvania State Board of Censors The Pennsylvania State Board of Censors was an organization under the Pennsylvania Department of Education responsible for approving, redacting, or banning motion pictures that it considered "sacrilegious, obscene, indecent, or immoral" or might ...

initially cut the bathing scene due to its nudity, and then banned the entire film from the state due to its plot breaching the topic of infidelity.

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Branding Iron'' located in any film archives,The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Branding Iron''
/ref> it is 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 ...

References

External links