''The Prince Chap'' is a 1920 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
William C. deMille
William Churchill deMille (July 25, 1878 – March 5, 1955), also spelled de Mille or De Mille, was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent film era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into ...
and written by
Olga Printzlau
Olga Printzlau (December 13, 1891 – July 8, 1962) was an American screenwriter. She wrote for more than 60 films between 1915 and 1933. She also wrote a play, ''Window Panes,'' which was staged in Los Angeles in 1928, and won praise from t ...
based upon the play of the same name by
Edward Peple
Edward Henry Peple (August 10, 1869 – July 28, 1924) was an American playwright known for his comedies and farces. He was perhaps best remembered for the plays ''The Prince Chap,'' ''The Littlest Rebel'' and ''A Pair of Sixes.''
Biography
Born ...
. The film stars
Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he comm ...
,
Charles Ogle,
Kathlyn Williams
Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams, May 31, 1879 – September 23, 1960) was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics, who performed on stage as well as in early silent film. She began her career onstage in ...
,
Casson Ferguson
Casson Ferguson (May 29, 1891 – February 12, 1929) was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1917 and 1928.
His father was John J. Ferguson, a jeweler in Alexandria, Louisiana. Early in his ...
,
Ann Forrest
Ann Forrest (known also by her birth name Anna Kromann and as Ann Kroman or Ann Kornan; 14 April 1895 – 25 October 1985) was a Danish-born American actress of Hollywood's silent films.
Biography
Forrest was born 14 April 1895 in Sønderho
...
,
Peaches Jackson
Peaches Jackson (October 9, 1913 – February 23, 2002) was an American film actress. Her sister, Mary Ann Jackson also became a child actor, and appeared in many of the Little Rascals short films for Hal Roach. Peaches (Charlotte) stoppe ...
, and
Mae Giraci
Mae Georgia Giraci (January 22, 1910 – January 10, 2006), also known as May Giraci, May Garcia, May Geraci, May Giracci, May Giracia and Tina Rossi, was an American child actress who appeared in silent films between 1915 and 1929.
Giraci was ...
. The film was released in August 1920, 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 ...
, William Peyton (Meighan), an artist occupying a poor apartment in the Latin quarter of London with his servant Runion (Ogle), is prevailed by a poor artists' model (Hart) to take her child and keep it upon her death. William agrees and raises Claudia as if she was his own daughter. His fiancée Alice Travers (Williams), hearing Claudia call him "pappa", misunderstands the situation and breaks their engagement. After several years, William has become prosperous and Claudia grows into womanhood. Jack, the Earl of Huntington (Ferguson), a fellow artist and friend of William, falls in love with Claudia (Lee) and asks for her hand in marriage. She refuses him. Alice, now a widow, returns to renew their friendship, but William's love for her is dead. He loves only Claudia and finds that his love is reciprocated.
Cast
*
Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he comm ...
as William Peyton
*
Charles Ogle as Runion
*
Kathlyn Williams
Kathlyn Williams (born Kathleen Mabel Williams, May 31, 1879 – September 23, 1960) was an American actress, known for her blonde beauty and daring antics, who performed on stage as well as in early silent film. She began her career onstage in ...
as Alice Travers
*
Casson Ferguson
Casson Ferguson (May 29, 1891 – February 12, 1929) was an American film actor of the silent era. He appeared in more than 50 films between 1917 and 1928.
His father was John J. Ferguson, a jeweler in Alexandria, Louisiana. Early in his ...
as Jack, Earl of Huntington
*
Ann Forrest
Ann Forrest (known also by her birth name Anna Kromann and as Ann Kroman or Ann Kornan; 14 April 1895 – 25 October 1985) was a Danish-born American actress of Hollywood's silent films.
Biography
Forrest was born 14 April 1895 in Sønderho
...
as Phoebe Puckers
*
Peaches Jackson
Peaches Jackson (October 9, 1913 – February 23, 2002) was an American film actress. Her sister, Mary Ann Jackson also became a child actor, and appeared in many of the Little Rascals short films for Hal Roach. Peaches (Charlotte) stoppe ...
as Claudia (age 4)
*
Mae Giraci
Mae Georgia Giraci (January 22, 1910 – January 10, 2006), also known as May Giraci, May Garcia, May Geraci, May Giracci, May Giracia and Tina Rossi, was an American child actress who appeared in silent films between 1915 and 1929.
Giraci was ...
as Claudia (age 8)
*
Lila Lee
Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.
Early life
The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...
as Claudia (age 18)
*
Lillian Leighton
Lillianne Brown Leighton (May 17, 1874 – March 19, 1956), known professionally as Lillian Leighton, was an American silent film actress. Leighton started her career in Chicago.
Leighton was born in Auroraville, Wisconsin, on May 17, 187 ...
as Aunt
*Bertram Johns as Ballington
*Florence Hart as Claudia's Mother
*
Theodore Kosloff
Theodore Kosloff (born Fyodor Mikhailovich Kozlov, russian: Фёдор Михайлович Козлов; January 22, 1882 – November 22, 1956) was a Russian-born ballet dancer, choreographer, and film and stage actor. He was occasionally c ...
as Yadder
*
Clarence Geldart
Clarence Geldart (June 9, 1867 – May 13, 1935) was an American film actor. He appeared in 127 films between 1915 and 1936. He was sometimes credited as C.H. Geldart or Charles H. Geldart.
He was born in New Brunswick, Canada, and died i ...
as Helmer
*
Yvonne Gardelle
Yvonne Gardelle (October 7, 1897 – July 21, 1979), born Alice Yvonne Clark, also known as Alice Y. Gardner, Yvonne Chappelle, or Yvonne Riddle, was an American actress in silent films, a dancer and an artist's model.
Early life
Alice Yvonne ...
Preservation status
It is not known whether the film currently
survives.
Progressive Silent Film List: ''The Prince Chap''
at silentera.com
References
External links
*
*Peple, Edward (1904),
The Prince Chap, a Comedy in Three Acts
', New York: Samuel French, Publishers, on the Internet Archive
1920 films
1920s English-language films
Silent American drama films
1920 drama films
Paramount Pictures films
Films directed by William C. deMille
American black-and-white films
American silent feature films
1920s American films
{{1920s-US-film-stub