''The Swamp'' (called ''Le Devin du faubourg''/''The Neighborhood Fortune-Teller'' in France) is a 1921 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 ...

released by the

Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation Film Booking Offices of America (FBO), registered as FBO Pictures Corp., was an American film studio of the silent era, a midsize producer and distributor of mostly low-budget films. The business began in 1918 as Robertson-Cole, an Anglo-Americ ...

and directed by

Colin Campbell Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

. The film was written and produced by

Sessue Hayakawa , known professionally as , was a Japanese actor and a matinée idol. He was a popular star in Hollywood during the silent film era of the 1910s and early 1920s. Hayakawa was the first actor of Asian descent to achieve stardom as a leading man i ...

, who also co-stars with

Bessie Love Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned ei ...

. A print of this film is preserved at the

Gosfilmofond Gosfilmofond is a state film archive in Russia. It is the main film archive of the Russian Federation and a member of the International Federation of Film Archives (FIAF). It is a state cultural institution — curator of films collection and othe ...

archive in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

Plot

Mary (Love) and her son Buster (Lee) live in a single room in a

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

in the slums of the city, having been deserted by their husband and father, wealthy Spencer Wellington (Tucker). While selling newspapers, Buster meets Wang (Hayakawa), a vegetable peddler. Wang protects Buster from attack, and receives a black eye in the endeavor. When Mary becomes ill, Wang cares for her until she is well. When Mary and Buster are about to be evicted, Wang sells his horse and vegetable stand to help them out, and he and Buster team up and become fortune-tellers. Through Wang, Mary learns that her husband is planning to remarry. When Wang entertains at the wedding reception, he reveals Spencer's past, and Spencer's new fiance, society lady Norma Biddle (Wilson), ends the engagement. Mary obtains a divorce from Spencer, and marries the new rent collector Johnnie Rand (McCullough), who is a former sweetheart. Wang is able to retrieve his horse, and he returns to his homeland, where he is reunited with his sweetheart.

Cast

as Wang *

as Mary * Janice Wilson as Norma Biddle *

Frankie Lee Frankie Lee (December 31, 1911 – July 29, 1970), was an American child actor. He appeared in 56 films between 1916 and 1925. Best remembered in the 1919 film '' The Miracle Man'', he was the little boy on crutches healed by the phony fait ...

as Buster *

Lillian Langdon Lillian Langdon (November 25, 1860 – February 8, 1943) was an American film actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 80 films between 1912 and 1928. Born in Newark, New Jersey, Langdon was a descendant of Montgomery Pike, dis ...

as Mrs. Biddle * Harland Tucker as Spencer Wellington *

Ralph McCullough Ralph McCullough (1895–1943) was an American film actor of the silent era who occasionally played male leads as well as more numerous supporting roles. Later in his career he mostly appeared in smaller, often uncredited, roles in the sound era. ...

as Johnnie Rand

Reception

The film received positive reviews, and Hayakawa and Love received praise for their performances.

References

External links

* * *
''The Swamp''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

1921 drama films 1921 films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films American silent feature films Film Booking Offices of America films Films directed by Colin Campbell Surviving American silent films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub