''The Story Without a Name'' is a 1924 American silent

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

Irvin Willat Irvin V. Willat (November 18, 1890 – April 17, 1976) was an American film director of the silent film, silent film era. A short biography reprinted from ''Blue Book of the Screen'' (1923). He directed 39 films between 1917 and 1937. Early i ...

and based on a novel by Arthur Stringer, which was published in conjunction with the film. It 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 ...

and stars

Agnes Ayres Agnes Ayres (born Agnes Henkel; April 4, 1896 – December 25, 1940) was an American actress who rose to fame during the silent film era. She was known for her role as Lady Diana Mayo in '' The Sheik'' opposite Rudolph Valentino. Career Ayres b ...

. A contest run by ''

Photoplay ''Photoplay'' was one of the first American film (another name for ''photoplay'') fan magazines. It was founded in 1911 in Chicago, the same year that J. Stuart Blackton founded '' Motion Picture Story,'' a magazine also directed at fans. For mo ...

'' magazine asked viewers to select a title for the film for a prize of $5,000, with the alternative title ''Without Warning'' selected as the winning entry. A 1952

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

with the title ''

Without Warning! ''Without Warning!'' is a 1952 American film noir crime film directed by Arnold Laven and starring Adam Williams (actor), Adam Williams, Meg Randall, and Ed Binns. The film is shot in a semidocumentary-style with police procedural voice-over na ...

'' had a

working title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

of ''The Story Without a Name'', but the plots of the two films are quite different.

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Story Without a Name'' located in any film archives,The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Story Without a name''
/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 ...

References

External links

* * *Stringer, Arthur (1924),
The Story Without a Name
', New York: Grosset & Dunlap (with stills), on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

1924 films American silent feature films Lost American films Films directed by Irvin Willat Films based on Canadian novels Famous Players-Lasky films 1924 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films Melodrama films 1924 lost films Lost drama films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub