''The Good Provider'' is a 1922 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

Frank Borzage Frank Borzage (; April 23, 1894 – June 19, 1962) was an Academy Award-winning American film director and actor, known for directing '' 7th Heaven'' (1927), '' Street Angel'' (1928), '' Bad Girl'' (1931), '' A Farewell to Arms'' (1932), ''Man's ...

and written by

Fannie Hurst Fannie Hurst (October 18, 1889 – February 23, 1968) was an American novelist and short-story writer whose works were highly popular during the post-World War I era. Her work combined sentimental, romantic themes with social issues of the d ...

and John Lynch. The film stars

Vera Gordon Vera Pogorelsky Gordon (June 11, 1886 – May 8, 1948) was a Russian-born American stage and screen actress. Early life Vera Pogorelsky was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia, on June 11, 1886, the daughter of Boris Pogorelsky and Teigan Nemirovsky. ...

Dore Davidson Dore Davidson (1851–March 7, 1930) was an American stage actor. He was also a film actor active during the silent era. He was also an author and a producer. Davidson was active in Yiddish theater before he began performing on Broadway. Broadway ...

Miriam Battista Miriam Battista (July 14, 1912 – December 22, 1980) was an American actress known principally for her early career as a child star in silent films. After gaining notice in Broadway theatre at the age of four, she was cast in films the same y ...

Vivienne Osborne Vivienne Osborne (born Vera Vivienne Spragg; December 10, 1896 – June 10, 1961) was an American stage and film actress known for her work in Broadway theatre and in silent and sound films. Career Osborne began her career on stage when s ...

William Collier, Jr. William Collier Jr. (born Charles F. Gall Jr.; February 12, 1902 – February 5, 1987) was an American stage performer, producer, and a film actor who in the silent and sound eras was cast in no fewer than 89 motion pictures. Biography William ...

, John Roche, and Ora Jones. The film was released on April 2, 1922, 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 ...

. It is not known whether the film currently survives.

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 ...

, Julius Binswanger (Davidson) has at last managed to save enough to send for his wife Becky (Gordon) and two children Pearl (Battista as a child, Osborne when grown) and Izzy (Collier) who have spent their time since leaving their hovel in Russia in a place little better, the swarming tenements in the East Side of New York City. He meets them at the tiny train station in a little town about forty five minutes from the city, and they are overwhelmed by the home he has bought as a surprise, a rickety old home at the edge of the village, but still their very own home. Over the next few years Julius prospers. The Good Provider (1922) - 1

Within ten years the traveling peddler's wagon of his has been replaced by a neat store on Main Street, and the home has been repaired and has an air of comfort and prosperity. Pearl has grown into womanhood and has a prospective lover in Max Teitlebaum (Roche), while Izzy is an up-to-date youth eager to have "his chance." He and his sister want to move back to New York City, but their father refuses. The mother is torn between her love for her husband and her desire to give their children "their chance." At last the old man, much against his will, yields and they move back into the city, renting their home. This move proves to be ruinous to the father, and he ends up bankrupt with his family knowing this truth. Pearl knows Max is planning to propose to her, but she demurs for her family. Julius feels he must make any sacrifice for those he loves. He has not been sleeping well, and takes the maximum dosage of two pills to assist in this. Becky discovers her husband just as he is about to take six of these pills, and this causes a readjustment for everyone. Max, as Pearl's fiance, insists on putting money into the business, and Izzy takes charge of the store. Julius returns to the little house he loves, and the final scenes show him and Becky comfortable and happy in their own home and Pearl and Max happily married.

Cast

as Becky Binswanger *

as Julius Binswanger *

as Pearl Binswanger, as a child *

as Pearl Binswanger *

as Izzy Binswanger *John Roche as Max Teitlebaum *Ora Jones as Mrs. Teitlebaum * Eddie Phillips as Broadway Sport *Muriel Martin as Flapper *James Devine as Mr. Boggs *

Blanche Craig Blanche Craig (January 6, 1866 – September 23, 1940) was an American actress. Biography Blanche Craig was born on January 6, 1866, in Cutler, Maine. She appeared in films such as '' The City of Illusion'' (1916), '' The Accidental Honeymoon' ...

as Mrs. Boggs *

Margaret Severn Margeret Severn (14 August 1901 – 7 July 1997) was an internationally acclaimed dancer who was most famous for using more than a dozen different Benda masks in the Greenwich Village Follies of 1921. She also played a dancer in the film '' ...

as Specialty Dancer

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Good Provider, The 1922 films 1920s English-language films Silent American drama films 1922 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Frank Borzage American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1920s American films