''The Splendid Road'' is a 1925 American

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

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

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a British-born American film director, actor, scriptwriter, and producer. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president ...

and starring

Anna Q. Nilsson Anna Quirentia Nilsson (March 30, 1888 – February 11, 1974) was a Swedish-American actress who achieved success in American silent movies. Early life Nilsson was born in Ystad, Sweden in 1888. Her middle name Quirentia is derived from her ...

, Robert Frazer, and

Lionel Barrymore Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...

. Based upon the novel of the same name by Vingie E. Roe, the film is set during the 1849

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, one of the passengers on a ship sailing from Boston around Cape Horn to California is an adventurous young woman, Sandra (Nilsson). A widow dies, her little girl appeals to Sandra. Rather than split the little family, Sandra adopts all three children, and decides to remain in Sacramento and make a home for them. Chance causes Stanton Halliday (Frazer), an agent for John Grey (Davis), a capitalist, to come to her rescue and they are attracted to each other. Doctor Bidwell (Earle) loves the capitalist's daughter Lillian (Day) but, believing she loves Halliday, he persuades Sandra that she must give him up or ruin his career. Halliday is ordered to evict Sandra who is a squatter, but he refuses and goes to her rescue. Halliday is shot by Dan Chehollis (Barrymore), a gambler who seeks to force his attentions on Sandra. While convalescing, he learns of Bidwell's action and goes back to Sandra, arriving in time to take her and her family away to safety after a wild wagon ride, as floods have caused the levee to burst and the town is flooded.

Cast

Preservation

With no copies of ''The Splendid Road'' located in any film archives, 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 ...

.''The Splendid Road'' at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: ''Lost First National films - 1925''

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan (1999). ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter.

External links