''The Temple of Venus'' is a 1923 American silent fantasy romance film directed by

Henry Otto Henry Otto (August 8, 1877 – August 3, 1952) was an American silent film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Otto contributed to over 150 films throughout his career working as an actor and a director throughout. He directed many ...

. It stars William Walling,

Mary Philbin Mary Loretta Philbin (July 16, 1902 – May 7, 1993) was an American film actress of the silent film era, who is best known for playing the roles of Christine Daaé in the 1925 film ''The Phantom of the Opera '' opposite Lon Chaney, and as Dea in ...

, and

Mickey McBan Mickey McBan (February 27, 1919 – October 30, 1979) was an American child actor. He was born in Spokane, Washington to British theatrical parents. McBan began his acting career at the age of four in ''Poor Men's Wives'' and specialized in port ...

. It was produced by William Fox and released by his

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film ...

Plot

The fantasy has a modern theme and mythological sequences involving shots of beaches with flimsy gowned dancers and imaginative caverns where dwell Venus, Neptune, Jupiter and the rest of the gods. There is also some views of wild life such as seals and tropical birds.

Cast

Production

On location filming was conducted at

Santa Cruz Island Santa Cruz Island (Spanish: ''Isla Santa Cruz'', Chumash: ''Limuw'') is located off the southwestern coast of Ventura, California, United States. It is the largest island in California and largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands a ...

, California.

Jean Arthur Jean Arthur (born Gladys Georgianna Greene; October 17, 1900 – June 19, 1991) was an American Broadway and film actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur had feature roles in three F ...

was initially cast as the lead, but was replaced by the more experienced Mary Philbin after a few days of rehearsal.

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Temple of Venus'' located in any film archive,The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Temple of Venus''
/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