''The Cruise of the Make-Believes'' is a
lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
1918 American silent dramatic feature film starring
Lila Lee
Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.
Early life
The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...
in her first motion picture. It was directed by
George Melford
George H. Melford (born George Henry Knauff, February 19, 1877 – April 25, 1961) was an American stage and film actor and director. Often taken for granted as a director today, the stalwart Melford's name by the 1920s was, like Cecil B. DeMil ...
and is based on a 1907 novel by
Tom Gallon
Tom Gallon (5 December 1866 – 4 November 1914) was a British playwright and novelist. He was the brother of author and publicist Nellie Tom-Gallon, who founded the Tom-Gallon Trust AwardFamous 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 ...
produced and
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 ...
released.
The film was released at the height of the
1918 flu pandemic
The 1918–1920 influenza pandemic, commonly known by the misnomer Spanish flu or as the Great Influenza epidemic, was an exceptionally deadly global influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza A virus. The earliest documented case was ...
.
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 ...
,
Bessie Meggison lives in the slums with her drunken father Daniel Meggison and presides over a boarding house. Gilbert Byfield, a wealthy youth who is writing a book, lives nearby in a cheap room. He becomes acquainted with Bessie and together they sail on many imaginary voyages on an improvised yacht in her back yard. Gilbert gives her father permission to take Bessie to his estate in the country for a month's vacation. Daniel Meggison invites his slum friends and drinks to his heart's content while Bessie entertains dozens of urchins. Gilbert returns and learns that Meggison has told Bessie that the estate belongs to him. Gilbert is also confronted by his fiance, and Bessie realizes that all of her family wealth is a sham. Heartbroken, she returns to her slum home. Gilbert finds her on the make believe ship and promises her that her dream of riches will come true.
Cast
*
Lila Lee
Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.
Early life
The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...
as Bessie Meggison
*
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...
as Gilbert Byfield
*
Raymond Hackett
Raymond Hackett (July 15, 1902 – July 7, 1958) was a stage and screen actor. He had been a child actor on the Broadway stage and was the brother of Albert Hackett. He was born in New York City the son of Maurice Hackett and Florence Hackett (né ...
as Daniel Meggison
*William Brunton as Aubrey Meggison
*
J. Parks Jones
James Parks Jones (1890 – January 11, 1950) was an actor in many silent films in the United States. His roles included many leading and supporting roles over more than a decade.
He was born in Cincinnati.
Jones married Myrtle Gonzalez, a Latin ...
as Jordan Tant (credited as Park Jones)
*
Spottiswoode Aitken
Frank Spottiswoode Aitken (16 April 1868 – 26 February 1933) was a Scottish-American actor of the silent era. He played Dr. Cameron in D. W. Griffith's epic drama ''The Birth of a Nation''.
Early years
Aitken was born 16 April 1868 in Edin ...
as Simon Quarle
*
Bud Duncan
Bud Duncan (October 31, 1883 – November 25, 1960) was an American actor of the silent era, most known for his early work with silent film comedian Lloyd Hamilton. He appeared in more than 160 films between 1912 and 1942.
Early life
Duncan ...
as Uncle Ed
*Eunice Murdock Moore as Aunt Julia (credited as Eunice Moore)
*
Mayme Kelso
Mayme Kelso (February 28, 1867 – June 5, 1946) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 70 films between 1911 and 1927. She was born in Columbus, Ohio, and died in South Pasadena, California from a heart attack ...
as Mrs. Ewart Crane (credited as Maym Kelso)
*
Nina Byron as Enid Crane
*William McLaughlin as Saloon Proprietor
*
Jane Wolfe
Sarah Jane Wolfe (March 21, 1875 – March 29, 1958) was an American silent film character actress who is considered an important female figure in magick. She was a friend and a colleague of Aleister Crowley and a founding member of Agape Lodge ...
as Byfield's Landlady (credited as Jane Wolff)
*John McKinnon as Butler of Dream Valley
See also
*''
The Truth About Spring
''The Truth about Spring'' (also known as ''The Pirates of Spring Cove'' or ''Miss Jude'') is a 1965 American-British Technicolor adventure film directed by Richard Thorpe and starring Hayley Mills, John Mills and James MacArthur. It is a ro ...
'' (1965), a similar-themed movie from the 1960s about coming of age
References
External links
*
*
Newspaper advertisement articlePress release with photographs from the production*Gallon, Tom (1907),
The Cruise of the Make-Believes', Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., on the Internet Archive
American silent feature films
Films directed by George Melford
Lost American films
Films based on British novels
Paramount Pictures films
1918 drama films
American black-and-white films
Silent American drama films
1918 lost films
Lost drama films
1910s American films
{{1910s-US-film-stub