''The Broken Butterfly'' is a 1919 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

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 starring

Lew Cody Lew Cody (born Louis Joseph Côté; February 22, 1884 – May 31, 1934) was an American stage and film actor whose career spanned the silent film and early sound film age. He gained notoriety in the late 1910s for playing "male vamps" in films ...

Mary Alden Mary Maguire Alden (June 18, 1883 – July 2, 1946) was an American motion picture and stage actress. She was one of the first Broadway actresses to work in Hollywood. Life Alden was born in New York City on June 18, 1883. She performed on Br ...

, and

Pauline Starke Pauline Starke (January 10, 1901Some sources say she was born in 1900. – February 3, 1977) was an American silent-film actress. Early years Pauline Starke was born on January 10, 1901, in Joplin, Missouri, the daughter of George W. Starke a ...

Plot

While strolling through the forests of Canada, Marcène Elliot (Starke), a naive young woman meets Daniel Thorn (Cody), a composer looking for inspiration for a symphony. They are fascinated by each other and she abandons herself into her lover's arms. Daniel then writes a symphony and calls it “Marcène” after her. He then asks her to accompany him to "the old continent" for the first time, but she refuses, fearing the anger of her Aunt Julie Elliot (Alden). Marcène gives birth to a little girl and then her aunt rejects her. Her own fears push her to attempt suicide. Upon returning, Daniel learns from Aunt Julie that Marcène gave birth to his child and that she drowned herself and her daughter. He then travels to forget his pain and meets Marcène's sister in England where she is playing his symphony. They get to know each other, finally fall in love and get married. Upon returning to Canada, they discover that Marcène and her daughter are still alive, but that Marcène lays dying in her bed. In agreement with his wife, they hide their marriage from Marcène. She dies happy and the couple adopts the little girl.

Cast

as Daniel Thorn *

as Julie Elliot *

as Marcène Elliot * Peaches Johnson (this is probably

Peaches Jackson Peaches Jackson (October 9, 1913 – February 23, 2002) was an American film actress. Her sister, Mary Ann Jackson also became a child actor, and appeared in many of the Little Rascals short films for Hal Roach. Peaches (Charlotte) stopped ...

) * Nina Byron

Preservation status

A print of ''The Broken Butterfly'' is listed in the catalog of the French archive

Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Fort de Bois-d'Arcy The Fort de Bois-d'Arcy, also called the Batterie de Bois-d'Arcy, is one of the forts constructed at the end of the 19th century to defend Paris. It is located in the commune of Bois d'Arcy in the Yvelines département of France. The fort is loc ...

. The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Broken Butterfly''
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References

Bibliography

* Waldman, Harry. ''Maurice Tourneur: The Life and Films''. McFarland, 2001.

External links

* * 1919 films 1919 drama films Silent American drama films Films directed by Maurice Tourneur American silent feature films 1910s English-language films American black-and-white films Film Booking Offices of America films 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub