''The Light That Failed'' is a 1923 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 ...

that 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 written by

Jack Cunningham John Anderson Cunningham, Baron Cunningham of Felling, PC, DL (born 4 August 1939) is a British politician who was a Labour Member of Parliament for over 30 years, serving for Whitehaven from 1970 to 1983 and then Copeland until the 2005 ...

and F. McGrew Willis based on the 1891 novelette of the same name by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

. The film stars

Jacqueline Logan Jacqueline Medura Logan (November 30, 1902 – April 4, 1983) was an American actress and silent film star. Logan was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922. Early life Logan was born in Corsicana, Texas, on November 30, 1902, the only child to Charles A. ...

Percy Marmont Percy Marmont (25 November 1883 – 3 March 1977) was an English film actor. Biography Marmont appeared in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1968. A veteran film actor by 1923, he scored a big hit that year in ''If Winter Comes'', later rem ...

David Torrence David Torrence may refer to: *David Torrence (actor) (1864–1951), Scottish-American film character actor * David Torrence (athlete) (1985–2017), Peruvian-American Olympic runner See also *David Torrance (disambiguation) David Torrance may ref ...

Sigrid Holmquist Sigrid Holmquist (21 February 1899, in Borås – 9 July 1970, in Sydney, Australia), also known as Sie Holmquist or Bie Holmquist, was a Swedish actress during the silent film era. After three films in Sweden, she went to pursue a career in Holly ...

Mabel Van Buren Mabel Van Buren (born Mabel Brown Southard; July 17, 1878 – November 4, 1947) was an American stage and screen actress. Biography As a theatrical performer she played the leading lady in both ''The Virginian'' and ''The Squaw Man'' (190 ...

, Luke Cosgrave, and Peggy Schaffer. The film was released on October 25, 1923, 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 was remade in 1939 as a sound film ''

The Light That Failed ''The Light That Failed'' is the first novel by the Nobel Prize-winning English author Rudyard Kipling, first published in ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'' in January 1891. Most of the novel is set in London, but many important events through ...

'' starring

Ronald Colman Ronald Charles Colman (9 February 1891 – 19 May 1958) was an English-born actor, starting his career in theatre and silent film in his native country, then immigrating to the United States and having a successful Hollywood film career. He wa ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, artist Dick Heldar returns to London from the Sudan and wins fame through his

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

sketches. He meets his old sweetheart, Maisie Wells. Bessie Broke, the model for his masterpiece painting, causes a quarrel between the lovers. Dick goes blind and Bessie destroys the painting, which Dick had worked on during his last moments of sight. Later, Bessie relents and brings the two lovers back together again just as Dick's friend Topenhow leaves for the

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Light That Failed'' located in any film archives,The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:''The Light That Failed''
/ref> it is a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

References

External links

* *
Still
at silentfilmstillarchive.com

at silenthollywood.com 1923 films Famous Players-Lasky films Silent American drama films 1923 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by George Melford Films based on British novels Films based on works by Rudyard Kipling American black-and-white films American silent feature films Films set in London 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub