''The Love Light'' is a 1921 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 ...
starring
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
. The film was written and directed by
Frances Marion
Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...
. Pickford selected the story as she wanted to play an adult and not another adolescent role.
Plot
Based upon a summary in a film publication,
Angela (Pickford), an Italian girl, bids good-bye to her second brother, who is the youngest, as he goes off to join the troops. Then comes news that her older brother has been killed in the
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 ...
. Giovanni (
Bloomer), who loves Angela, tries to comfort her, and then he too is called. Left alone, Angela is made keeper of the lighthouse. Joseph (
Thomson Thomson may refer to:
Names
* Thomson (surname), a list of people with this name and a description of its origin
* Thomson baronets, four baronetcies created for persons with the surname Thomson
Businesses and organizations
* SGS-Thomson Mic ...
) arrives and says that he is an American and a
deserter
Desertion is the abandonment of a military duty or post without permission (a pass, liberty or leave) and is done with the intention of not returning. This contrasts with unauthorized absence (UA) or absence without leave (AWOL ), which ...
. They are later secretly married. One night he has Angela flash him a "love" signal using the lighthouse. The next morning an Italian ship carrying wounded men is reported as having been destroyed at midnight, the hour when the signal was sent. Angela steals some chocolate from Tony (
Regas) for Joseph to take with him. When she arrives home, she hears Joseph murmur in his sleep "Gott mit uns," and it dawns on her that her husband is a German spy. Tony traces the theft to her, and after he says that her wounded brother had been on the ship, she realizes that it was the signal that sent her brother to his death. She gives up Joseph, who still proclaims his love for her. Joseph breaks away from his jailers and plunges over a cliff to his death. Later, with her and Joseph's baby, Angela is happy with her old sweetheart Giovanni, who has returned from the war blind.
Cast
*
Mary Pickford
Gladys Marie Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American stage and screen actress and producer with a career that spanned five decades. A pioneer in the US film industry, she co-founde ...
as Angela Carlotti
* Evelyn Dumo as Maria
*
Raymond Bloomer
Raymond Bloomer (December 9, 1886 – November 1, 1948), was an American actor. He appeared in 22 films between 1913 and 1927.
Filmography
External links
*
*
*
American male film actors
American male silent film actors
Male actor ...
as Giovanni
*
Fred Thomson
Frederick Clifton Thomson (February 26, 1890 – December 25, 1928) was an American silent film cowboy who rivaled Tom Mix in popularity before dying at age 38 of tetanus.
Birth and athletic achievement
Born in Pasadena, California to Clara ...
as Joseph
*
Albert Prisco
Albert Prisco (January 28, 1890 – ?) was an American actor born in Naples, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of ...
as Pietro
*
George Regas
George Thomas Regas (Greek: Γεώργιος Θωμάς Ρεγάκος; November 9, 1890 – December 13, 1940) was a Greek American actor.
Biography
Regis was born in the village of Goranoi near Sparta, Greece, the brother of actor Pedro Regas ...
as Tony
*
Eddie Phillips as Mario Carlotti
*
Jean De Briac
Jean De Briac (born Jean-Frederic Weitler, 15 August 1891 – 18 October 1970) was a French film actor. He appeared in more than 120 films between 1920 and 1962. He was born in France and died in Los Angeles, California. He immigrated to the ...
as Antonio Carlotti
Reception
''
Photoplay
''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...
'' published a very critical review by
Burns Mantle
Robert Burns Mantle (December 23, 1873February 9, 1948) was an American theater critic. He founded the ''Best Plays'' annual publication in 1920.Chansky, Dorothy (2011)"Burns Mantle and the American Theatregoing Public" in ''Theatre History Stu ...
. He wrote, in summary, "''The Love Light'' is a poor picture in the sense of being quite unworthy of the star's talents. The story is developed without reasonable logic and filmed with only the value of the pictures in mind. ''The Love Lights one value to my mind is that it takes the nation's sweetheart out of curls and short frocks and makes a woman of her."
See also
*
Mary Pickford filmography
Mary Pickford (1892–1979) was a Canadian-American motion picture actress, producer, and writer. During the silent film era she became one of the first great celebrities of the cinema and a popular icon known to the public as "America's Sweethea ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Light, The
1921 films
1921 drama films
Silent American drama films
American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
Films shot in California
United Artists films
Films with screenplays by Frances Marion
1920s American films