''The Mad Dancer'' is a 1925 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 ...

directed by

Burton L. King Burton L. King (August 25, 1877 – May 4, 1944) was an American film actor and director. One of his best-known productions was '' The Lost Battalion'' (1919). Selected filmography * '' The Battle of Gettysburg'' (1913) * ''Under the Crescent'' ...

and starring Ann Pennington,

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended ...

, and

Coit Albertson Edward Coit Albertson (October 14, 1880 – December 13, 1953) was an Americans, American stage and film actor. Biography Albertson was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, the son of George and Elizabeth (née Stock) Albertson, and began his acting c ...

Synopsis

Mimi, a

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

who lives in the

Latin Quarter The Latin Quarter of Paris (french: Quartier latin, ) is an area in the 5th and the 6th arrondissements of Paris. It is situated on the left bank of the Seine, around the Sorbonne. Known for its student life, lively atmosphere, and bistros ...

of Paris, poses nude for a

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

. When her father commits suicide she moves to the United States but finds her relatives there disapprove of her. She becomes engaged to the son of an American

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, but her past threatens to catch up with her.

Cast

Production

''The Mad Dancer'' was filmed at the Tec-Art Studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Pennington, who had performed in the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as ''The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air ...

'' and ''

George White's Scandals ''George White's Scandals'' were a long-running string of Broadway revues produced by George White that ran from 1919–1939, modeled after the ''Ziegfeld Follies''. The "Scandals" launched the careers of many entertainers, including W. C. Fie ...

'', appeared

nude Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

for the modeling scene for the sculpture. At the time, brief stationary nudity, similar to a

tableau vivant A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French language, French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and ...

, appeared in a few American films with scenes involving women posing for painters or sculptors. As an experiment, one scene involving Pennington and

Vincent Lopez Vincent Lopez (December 30, 1895 – September 20, 1975) was an American bandleader, actor, and pianist. Early life and career Vincent Lopez was born of Portuguese immigrant parents in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, Distinguished Am ...

and his band was broadcast over the radio on Newark, New Jersey station WJZ (today WABC of New York City) while being filming.

Preservation

Prints of ''The Mad Dancer'' are held in the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

and

George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection The George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York comprises about 28,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and experimental moving images. The collection is renowned for its holdings of silent f ...

.Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''The Mad Dancer''
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References

Bibliography

* Koszarski, Richard (2008). ''Hollywood on the Hudson: Film and Television in New York from Griffith to Sarnoff''. Rutgers University Press. * Munden, Kenneth White (1997). ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. University of California Press.

External links

* *
Still on the cover of a French magazine''H.E.R. Studios, Inc. v. Jans Productions, Inc.'' (N.Y. Sup. 1925)
(documents from appeal of court case on claim for costs of creating titles for ''The Mad Dancer'') 1925 films 1925 drama films 1920s English-language films American silent feature films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by Burton L. King Films set in Paris 1920s American films Films shot in New York City {{1920s-US-film-stub