''The Passion Flower'' is a 1921 American

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

Norma Talmadge Norma Marie Talmadge (May 2, 1894 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress and film producer of the silent film, silent era. A major box-office draw for more than a decade, her career reached a peak in the early 1920s, when she ranked among ...

Courtenay Foote Courtenay Foote (22 November 1878 – 4 May 1925) was an English stage and silent film actor. Born in Yorkshire, England, Foote attended Oxford, studied engineering in Germany, and worked as a civil engineer in Scotland. Friends who heard ...

, and

Eulalie Jensen Eulalie Jensen (December 24, 1884 – October 7, 1952) was an American actress on the New York stage and in silent films. Biography Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was selected as one of six extra girls from the 200 applicants responding to a ...

, and directed by

Herbert Brenon Herbert Brenon (born Alexander Herbert Reginald St. John Brenon; 13 January 1880 – 21 June 1958) was an Irish-born U.S. film director, actor and screenwriter during the era of silent films through the 1930s. Brenon was among the early film ...

. It is based on the 1913 Spanish play '' The Unloved Woman'' (Spanish: ''La malquerida'') by

Jacinto Benavente Jacinto Benavente y Martínez (12 August 1866 – 14 July 1954) was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922 "for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustrious ...

. The play was translated into English by

John Garrett Underhill John Garrett Underhill (January 10, 1876 – May 15, 1946) was an American author and stage producer who translated the works of Jacinto Benavente, a Spanish dramatist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and a number of other Spanish au ...

as ''The Passion Flower'' and successfully produced in 1920 in New York City. The plot of the film involves the forbidden love of a man for his stepdaughter which leads to tragedy and murder.

Plot

As described in a film publication, Esteban's (Foote) jealousy for his stepdaughter Acacia (Talmadge) results in his servant Rubio (Wilson) telling Acacia's sweetheart Norbert (Ford) that she loves another. Their betrothal is broken, and later Acacia accepts Faustino (Agnew). Rubio kills Faustino, and Norbert is tried for the crime but acquitted. When it becomes known that Esteban was the cause of the murder, he flees into the mountains, but later returns to give himself up. Raimunda (Jensen), Acacia's mother and Esteban's wife, pleads with Acacia to accept the stepfather whom she hates. During the long embrace which follows between Esteban and Acacia, Raimunda learns of Esteban's love for his stepdaughter and her own love turns to hate. Raimunda calls for help and during Esteban's attempt to escape with Acacia he shoots his wife and is then arrested. Raimunda dies in the arms of Acacia.

Cast

Court case

Underhill, who had translated the Spanish play into English as ''The Passion Flower'', sued in New York state court after the play was filmed without his permission. On appeal, the opinion by Chief Judge

Benjamin N. Cardozo Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the New York Court of Appeals from 1914 to 1932 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1932 until his dea ...

agreed that the contractual transfer of dramatic rights to produce a play did not include films, and that Underhill deserved damages but not all profits from the film. (transfer of dramatic rights does not include making film).

Preservation

The

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

has a print of ''The Passion Flower'', though there is a bit of deterioration in the first scene and a "lapse of continuity" near the end of this copy.

References

External links

* * * American romantic drama films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films directed by Herbert Brenon 1921 romantic drama films First National Pictures films American silent feature films 1921 films 1920s American films Silent romantic drama films Silent American drama films {{silent-romantic-drama-film-stub