''The Next Corner'' is a 1924 American
silent romantic melodrama film
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
directed by
Sam Wood
Samuel Grosvenor Wood (July 10, 1883 – September 22, 1949) was an American film director and producer who is best known for having directed such Hollywood hits as ''A Night at the Opera (film), A Night at the Opera'', ''A Day at the Races (fi ...
. The film starred
Dorothy Mackaill
Dorothy Mackaill (March 4, 1903 – August 12, 1990) was a British-American actress, most active during the silent-film era and into the pre-Code era of the early 1930s.
Early life
Born in Sculcoates, Kingston upon Hull in 1903 (although she l ...
and
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 ...
. Based on the romance novel of the same name by
Kate Jordan, the film was produced by
Famous Players-Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...
and distributed 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 ...
.
Throughout the years, ''The Next Corner'' has been cited as a Chaney picture but, according to the ''American Film Institute Catalog'', his character has little screen time. In fact, of all Chaney's feature films of the 1920s, this picture seems to have less of him on screen than any other feature he made. A still exists showing Chaney in his role as Juan Serafin and it shows how little makeup he wore in this picture. Another still of Chaney can be seen here.
This film was Chaney's only Paramount film of the 1920s, the last having been ''
Treasure Island
''Treasure Island'' (originally titled ''The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys''Hammond, J. R. 1984. "Treasure Island." In ''A Robert Louis Stevenson Companion'', Palgrave Macmillan Literary Companions. London: Palgrave Macmillan. .) is an adventure no ...
'', and was one of the last films he appeared in as a freelance artist before signing a multiple picture deal with
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
.
The leading character is portrayed by Dorothy Mackaill, then an up-and-coming young star. The novel was remade in sound in 1931 at
RKO
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
as ''
Transgression'' starring
Kay Francis
Kay Francis (born Katharine Edwina Gibbs; January 13, 1905 – August 26, 1968) was an American stage and film actress. After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 an ...
and
Nance O'Neil
Gertrude Lamson (October 8, 1874 – February 7, 1965), known professionally as Nance O'Neil or Nancy O'Neil, was an American stage and film actress who performed in plays in various theaters around the world but worked predominantly in the Unite ...
, with Ricardo Cortez returning to the same role.
Plot
Elsie Maury (Dorothy Mackaill) and her wealthy American husband Robert (Conway Tearle) spend their honeymoon in Paris, where she becomes acquainted with the smarmy Don Arturo (Ricardo Cortez), who plots to seduce her. When her husband rushes off to Argentina on a business trip, she and her mother remain in Paris to await his return. Elsie accept an invitation to attend a house party that is to held at Don Arturo's home. She is accompanied only by Juan Serafin (Lon Chaney), one of Arturo's aides, and when she arrives, she is surprised to find they are the only guests. Don Arturo attempts to seduce her, but before she succumbs to his charms, she is compelled to write a letter addressed to her husband in which she confesses that she and Arturo are now lovers.
Before the letter can be mailed however, Don Arturo manages to open the envelope and substitute two sheets of blank paper in place of the letter, and then reseal it again. Soon after, a stranger arrives at the house and shoots Don Arturo dead for having seduced his peasant daughter on an earlier occasion. Elsie, thinking the letter was mailed, returns to Paris and tells her mother to help her intercept the missive. Juan Serafin, thinking his master's death was Elsie's fault, takes it upon himself to maliciously deliver the letter to Robert in person.
Elsie feels she has no choice but to come clean now, and confesses the whole affair to her husband. But when he opens the envelope, all he finds are the two blank sheets of paper that Don Arturo had substituted. He forgives Elsie nonetheless and embraces her. Later Juan Serafin is found shot to death, clutching one of Elsie's handkerchiefs in his hand.
Cast
Critical Comments
"Old fashioned in theme and characterization and conventional in treatment is this picture which carries very little entertaining qualities. Any faithful filmgoer will recognize the plot as belonging to a threadbare formula--one which has done yeoman service on the screen. The best feature of the picture is Dorothy Mackaill's vital performance...Conway Tearle as the husband and Ricardo Cortez as the other man are also effective, while Lon Chaney's personality is buried in a small role...It is a finely mounted production, but the story is weak." ---Motion Picture News
"Well it was fearfully cold and the radio must have been good, as we had no crowd at all to see this one, and we were glad, as it is a very poor show. Lay off. Poor audience appeal." ---Moving Picture World
"An unintentionally funny melodrama which may amuse but will not impress intelligent audiences...Why Lon Chaney consented to appear in such a foolish role as that of foster-brother Serafin remains an unsolved problem." ---Exhibitors Trade Review
"Slow draggy development and poor direction....Lon Chaney's great ability is completely lost in this". ---Film Daily
"Just a programme picture, that's all... Conway Tearle and Lon Chaney have little to do". ---Photoplay
"(The film) has a silly story. Lon Chaney has a weak part and gets into the fore now and then in subordinate situations where he has very little to build on". ---Variety
Preservation
With no copies of ''The Next Corner'' located in any film archives,
The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Next Corner''
/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 ...
.
Taglines
"THE story of a youthful wife who couldn't discern between real and artificial love. And paid in heartache and remorse to learn. It's a big theme, powerfully told."
"The daring story of a young married woman who played with the fire of forbiiden love and was caught in the flames!.... A theme of sensational surprise building to an astounding climax!" (one-sheet blurb)
"Lover or Husband... Which? The story of a wife who strayed!" (one-sheet blurb)
References
External links
*
*
Australian daybill Lobby poster
Lobby poster
lobby card
archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Next Corner
1924 films
1924 romantic drama films
American romantic drama films
American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
Famous Players-Lasky films
Films based on American novels
Films based on romance novels
Films directed by Sam Wood
Lost American films
Melodrama films
1924 lost films
1920s American films
Silent romantic drama films
Silent American drama films