''The Light in the Dark'' (later re-edited into a shorter version called ''The Light of Faith'') is a 1922 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

Clarence Brown Clarence Leon Brown (May 10, 1890 – August 17, 1987) was an American film director. Early life Born in Clinton, Massachusetts, to Larkin Harry Brown, a cotton manufacturer, and Katherine Ann Brown (née Gaw), Brown moved to Tennessee when he ...

and stars

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

and Hope Hampton. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of Tony Pantelli. Some scenes (mostly showing the Holy Grail glowing) were filmed in Color. The original 63-minute feature film was later re-edited into a condensed 33-minute version retitled ''The Light of Faith'', that was circulated to schools and churches in the 1920s. A Rhode Island film distributor specializing in religious subjects acquired the film in the mid-20's and re-edited it to 33 minutes, retitling it THE LIGHT OF FAITH, which emphasized the subplot involving the Holy Grail. Thankfully, state law required that films for schools and churches (the major market for that distributor) be printed on the nonflammable safety stock, so this multi-tinted version exists today. That is the only version that has survived, since the full-length 63-minute version no longer exists. (There is a rumor that the full-length version has been recently found intact, but if it has, it has never been made available on dvd or video.) Years later, a 70-minute reconstruction was produced by the International Museum of Photography and Film at the George Eastman House.

Plot

Coat check girl Bessie MacGregor (

Hope Hampton Hope Hampton (Mae Elizabeth Hampton; February 19, 1897 – January 23, 1982) was an American silent motion picture actress and producer, who was noted for her seemingly effortless incarnation of siren and flapper types in silent-picture roles ...

) is struck by the car of wealthy society woman Mrs. Templeton Orrin (

Teresa Maxwell-Conover Teresa Maxwell-Conover (born Teresa Ryan; September 26, 1884 – September 1968) was an American actress in Broadway productions in the early 20th century. She was in motion pictures until the early 1940s, and was sometimes credited as Theresa ...

), who takes Bessie into her home while she recovers. Mrs. Orrin's brother, J. Warburton Ashe ( E.K. Lincoln), says he loves Bessie and flirts with her, but when she learns he isn't serious about her, she flees the home, heartbroken. (* This is where the 33-minute version starts: Bessie rents a room in a boarding house with her last dollar, then tries to find a job. Unable to find work, Bessie collapses from hunger one day in the boarding house in which she is staying. The landlady, Mrs. Flaherty (

Dorothy Walters Dorothy Walters (1877-1934) was an American stage performer and film actress noted for her work in vaudeville, in Broadway productions for nearly 30 years, and in silent films between 1918 and the mid-1920s. Early life and stage career Walte ...

) and another boarder, a cheap hood named Tony Pantelli (

) start to nurse Bessie back to health. Tony is in love with Bessie but hides his affections because he feels she is too good for him. A doctor diagnoses Bessie with a heart problem and tells her to remain in bed as much as possible. Ashe, realizing he was wrong in his treatment of Bessie, has no idea where she has gone so he heads off on a trip to England to try to forget about her. During a hunting expedition, he finds a mysterious chalice in the ruins of a monastery that the locals believe to be the

Holy Grail The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracu ...

. Mrs. Orrin urges her brother to return home to find Bessie, and he brings the Holy Grail back to New York with him. (* This segment is not in the condensed version: Seeing Bessie needs medical care, Tony Pantelli tries to raise money by stealing the chalice and selling it to a pawnshop. The police later recover the chalice in a raid on the pawnbroker's shop. News of the cup's mysterious healing powers, and the way it glows in the dark, reaches the newspapers. The police return it to Ashe, who keeps it in his home on a mantle shelf. (* The edited version picks up again here: From her sick bed, Bessie reads about Ashe finding the Holy Grail in a newspaper. After Bessie tells Tony the legend of the Holy Grail, he steals the chalice, this time planning to use its magical powers to cure Bessie's heart failure. She touches the glowing cup and makes an instant recovery, but Tony is caught with the goods and put on trial for the theft. During the trial, Bessie and Ashe are reunited, and when Ashe has a religious conversion upon seeing the cup glow in the courtroom, he refuses to press charges against Tony who is released from custody. Tony leaves the courthouse heartbroken, after watching Bessie and Ashe embracing. Tony saved Bessie's life and reunited the two lovers, but at the end of the film, he walks out of the courthouse all alone. (* The following scene was allegedly in the long version of the film: Later, the pawnbroker, now in

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

prison, confesses that the mysterious glow was from some radium he had placed in the chalice.)

Cast

(Some of these actors might not appear in the 33-minute version) *

as Bessie MacGregor * E.K. Lincoln as J. Warburton Ashe *

as Tony Pantelli *

as Mrs. Templeton Orrin *

as Mrs. Flaherty, the landlady * Charles Mussett as Detective Braenders *

Edgar Norton Edgar Norton (born Harry Edgar Mills; August 11, 1868 – February 6, 1953) was an English-born American character actor. Early years Norton was born in Islington in London, England, on August 11, 1868, as Harry Edgar Mills, one of eight childr ...

as Peters *

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. Broadw ...

as Jerusalem Mike * Mr. McClune as Socrates S. Stickles * Joe Bonomo as Chaney's stunt double The Light in the Dark (1922) - 7

Production

''The Light in the Dark'' was filmed in New York City and at the Paragon studio in Fort Lee,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

in December 1921. The world premiere was held at the Strand Theatre in Niagara Falls, NY.Blake 1997, p. 111.

Reception

"In introducing the new process of color photography, Associated First National has made doubly secure an offering that from the standpoint of material and treatment promises to give wide satisfaction ... It has a penetrating theme and a symbolic beauty...Lon Chaney has the type of role in which he has proven exceptionally skillful. His is a real sympathetic contribution." ---Moving Picture WorldMirsalis, Jon C
"Review: 'The Light in the Dark'."
''lonchaney.org'', 2008. Retrieved: May 9, 2016. "If its story possessed half the merit of its technical equipment, it might have proved a world-beater. It doesn't, so it isn't ... Mr. Chaney is a somewhat more kindly crook than is his wont, and Mr. Lincoln struggles along in the fat, but unconvincing hero role." ---Variety "By all means the best picture in which Hope Hampton has ever appeared, ''The Light in the Dark'' has A-1 merits as a box-office attraction. Lon Chaney as usual is the crook par excellence and adds another striking portrayal to his gallery of characters." ---Exhibitors Trade ReviewBlake,Michael F. ''The Films of Lon Chaney''. Vestal, New York: Vestal Press, 1998. . "(The film) is better handled by Hope Hampton than anything she has ever done. Lon Chaney, excellent actor that he is, does splendid work as an Italian who in a simple way loves the heroine. His work is very good."---Film Daily

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Anderson, Robert Gordon. ''Faces, Forms, Films: The Artistry of Lon Chaney''. South Brunswick, New Jersey: A. S. Barnes, 1971. . * Blake,Michael F. ''The Films of Lon Chaney''. Vestal, New York: Vestal Press, 1998. . * Blake,Michael F. ''A Thousand Faces: Lon Chaney's Unique Artistry in Motion Pictures''. Vestal, New York: Vestal Press, 1997. .

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Light In The Dark 1922 films American silent short films American black-and-white films American crime drama films 1922 romantic drama films First National Pictures films American romantic drama films 1922 crime drama films 1920s American films Silent romantic drama films Silent American drama films