''The Family Skeleton'' is a surviving 1918 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 ...

directed by

Victor Schertzinger Victor L. Schertzinger (April 8, 1888 – October 26, 1941) was an American composer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. His films include '' Paramount on Parade'' (co-director, 1930), ''Something to Sing About'' (1937) with James C ...

and

Jerome Storm Jerome Storm (November 11, 1890 – July 10, 1958) was an American film director, actor, and writer. He acted in 48 films between 1914 and 1941 and directed 47 films between 1918 and 1932. He was born in Denver, Colorado, and died in Desert ...

and written by Thomas H. Ince and Bert Lennon. The film stars Charles Ray, Sylvia Breamer, Andrew Arbuckle,

William Elmer William Elmer (April 25, 1869 – February 24, 1945) was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 80 films between 1913 and 1942. He was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa and died in Hollywood, California. Elmer acted in ...

Otto Hoffman Otto F. Hoffman (May 2, 1879 – June 23, 1944) was an American film actor. He appeared in almost 200 films between 1915 and 1944. He was born in New York City and died in Los Angeles, California, from lung cancer. Hoffman's Broadway credit ...

, and Jack Dyer. The film was released on March 31, 1918, by Paramount Pictures.

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 ...

, Billy Bates (Ray) believes that he has inherited the desire for strong drink from his father and, in order to live apart from his friends unmolested, he retires to a cheap saloon where each day finds him sinking lower. Poppy Drayton (Breamer) loves Billy and decides to save him from himself. She hatches a plan that makes Billy believe that she has been kidnapped, and Billy finds that he can do without

John Barleycorn "John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. ...

when the safety of the woman he loves is at stake.

Cast

* Charles Ray as Billy Bates * Sylvia Breamer as Poppy Drayton * Andrew Arbuckle as Dr. Griggs *

as 'Spider' Doyle *

as Billy's Valet *Jack Dyer as Wheeler

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Family Skeleton'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required cuts in Reel 3 of four closeups of woman seated at table with men drinking and to reduce length by half of all other scenes of women shown drinking.

Preservation

Prints are extant in 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 ...

collection and at the

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and oth ...

Russian State archive.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', p. 54, c.1978 by the American Film Institute

References

External links

* * 1918 films 1910s English-language films Silent American drama films 1918 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Victor Schertzinger Films directed by Jerome Storm American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub