''The Market of Souls'' is a 1919 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

Joe De Grasse Joseph Louis De Grasse (May 4, 1873 – May 25, 1940) was a Canadians, Canadian film director. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he was the elder brother of actor Sam De Grasse. Biography Joseph De Grasse had studied and was a first-class grad ...

and written by John Lynch and C. Gardner Sullivan. The film stars

Dorothy Dalton Dorothy Dalton (September 22, 1893 – April 13, 1972) was an American silent film actress and stage personality who worked her way from a stock company to a movie career. Beginning in 1910, Dalton was a player in stock companies in Chicago; Te ...

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sou ...

Philo McCullough Philo McCullough (June 16, 1893 – June 5, 1981) was an American actor. He appeared in more than 250 films between 1914 and 1969. He was born in San Bernardino, California, and died in Burbank, California. McCullough's film debut came in 1 ...

, Dorcas Mathews, Donald McDonald, and George Williams. The film was released on September 7, 1919, 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 ...

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 ...

, Helen Armes (Dalton), a nurse, comes to New York City from Albany to visit her married brother. She arrives on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

and is immediately added to a cabaret party being made up to include her brother's wife and Lyle Bane (McCullough), a wealthy bachelor. At the cabaret she meets his brother Temple Bane (Herbert), a woman-hater who begins to believe in her. When she wearies of the performance, Lyle takes her home, lures her into his apartment, and attempts familiarities. She escapes but is judged guilty by her sister-in-law, so she leaves at once and goes to the nurse headquarters. Temple arrives and, after being told a lie about Helen's character and the incident, fights with his brother and receives a blow that blinds him. Helen is assigned to his case and she nurses him back to his sight. Being ignorant of her identity, Temple asks Helen for her hand in marriage. When he regains his sight, he then denounces her. She is about to leave when Lyle Bane, who has been reported killed in France while in the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought alon ...

, appears in a supernatural form and tells the truth about the incident in the apartment. Temple and Helen reconcile, and Lyle disappears, with it concluded that he did not return in the flesh but only as a spirit.

Cast

as Helen Armes *

as Temple Bane *

as Lyle Bane *

Dorcas Mathews Dorcas ( el, Δορκάς, Dorkás, used as a translated variant of the Aramaic name), or Tabitha ( arc, טביתא/ܛܒܝܬܐ, Ṭaḇīṯā, (female) gazelle), was an early disciple of Jesus mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (, see discuss ...

as Evelyn Howell *Donald McDonald as Herbert Howell * George Williams as Dr. Rodney Nevins

Preservation

A print of the film is held in the

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and othe ...

collection in Moscow.The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Market of Souls''
Retrieved October 1, 2016

References

External links

* * 1919 films 1910s English-language films Silent American drama films 1919 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Joseph De Grasse American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1910s American films {{1910s-US-film-stub