''The Song of Love'' is a 1923 American silent

adventure drama film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, anim ...

directed by

Chester Franklin Chester Mortimer Franklin (September 1, 1889 – March 12, 1954) was an American film director and actor active mainly in the silent era. Born in San Francisco, he was the brother of Sidney A. Franklin. In the late 1910s, he co-directed w ...

and

Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...

, 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 ...

Joseph Schildkraut Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film ''The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for h ...

, and

Arthur Edmund Carewe Arthur Edmund Carewe (December 30, 1884 – April 22, 1937), born Hovsep Hovsepian ( hy, Հովսեփ Հովսեփյան), was an Armenian-American stage and film actor of the silent and early sound film era. Early life Born on December 30, 18 ...

. Frances Marion's screenplay is based on the 1922 novel ''The Dust of Desire'' by

Margaret Peterson Margaret Peterson (1883 – 1933) was an English people, English novelist. Biography Margaret Peterson grew up in Mumbai, Bombay (Mumbai), the youngest child of Peter and Agnes (née Christall) Peterson. Her parents were originally from Scotlan ...

Plot

The plot of ''The Song of Love'' focuses on the relationships among North African Arab citizens, Tuaregs, and French colonial citizens who live in a small outpost with homes, shops, and a bar/social spot. Norma Talmadge is a dancing girl, whose uncle is viewed as a leader in the Arab community and owner of the social spot. Other key roles are an Arab prince, seeking support from the Tuaregs to regain control of the outpost from the French colonists; a French secret service agent (who becomes the love interest); the French colonial leaders: a French spouse and an American. Through intrigue and conversations, the storyline evolves during the 81 minutes of this movie, resulting in a nighttime battle scene and the main characters professing love for each other.

Cast

Survival

A copy of ''The Song of Love'' is in 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 ...

Czech Film Archive The National Film Archive (, abb. NFA) is a film archive located in Prague, Czech Republic. It was established in 1943 (From 1943 to 1945 known as Filmový archiv, from 1945 to 1989 Československý filmový ústav, then from 1990 to 1992 Český f ...

, and other film archives. Kino Lorber, Inc., in 2018 produced a series of DVDs to share restored and digitized versions of films produced and directed by women between 1910 and 1923. Since Norma Talmadge produced this film through her company and the co-director is Frances Marion, this film is part of this collection. Many of the films in this collection are now housed with the Library of Congress.Douglas, Illeana et al., 2018, ''Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers''. Co-published by Library of Congress and Kino Classics.

References

External links

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Stills
at the Norma Talmadge website at stanford.edu
''The Song of Love'': A Silent Film Review
at moviessilently.com 1923 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Chester Franklin Films with screenplays by Frances Marion 1920s adventure drama films American adventure drama films 1923 drama films 1920s American films Silent American drama films Silent adventure films 1920s English-language films {{silent-drama-film-stub