''The Woman in White'' is a 1912 American short

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

based on the 1860 novel of the same name by Wilkie Collins, produced by the Gem Motion Picture Company. Unlike a second film adaptation of ''The Woman in White'' produced by the Thanhouser Company the same year, it is not 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 ...

; a copy is preserved at the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, New York. The Thanhouser version was one of the silent films destroyed when their initial studio burned in 1913.

Production

Directed by George Nichols, ''The Woman in White'' was produced by Gem, a subsidiary of the newly formed Universal Film Manufacturing Company and released on October 22, 1912. The cast included Janet Salisbury (Laura Fairlie and The Woman in White), Charles Perley (Walter), Charles Craig (Percival), Alec Frank (Fosco), Viola Alberti (Countess Fosco) and Lyman Rabbe (Pesca). The story was adapted by George Edwardes Hall.

Thanhouser Company production

Simultaneously, the Thanhouser Company was producing its own two-reel adaptation of ''The Woman in White'', starring

Marguerite Snow Marguerite Snow (September 9, 1889 – February 17, 1958) was an American silent film and stage actress. In her early films she was billed as Margaret Snow. Early life Snow was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her father, Billy Snow, was a comedia ...

(Laura, Anne), James Cruze (Percival) and William Garwood (Walter). The screenplay was written by Lloyd F. Lonergan. Release dates were announced to the press and changed several times as the two companies competed for the first release. In the end, Thanhouser was able to deliver its film on October 20, 1912—two days before Gem.

Gallery

A summary of the plot of ''The Woman in White'' appeared in the November 1912 issue of '' The Motion Picture Story Magazine'', accompanied by six still photographs from the Gem production. The photographs are captioned as they appear in the magazine. File:Woman-in-White-1912-Gem-1.jpg, Walter Hartridge, Artist File:Woman-in-White-1912-Gem-2.jpg, The Engagement File:Woman-in-White-1912-Gem-3.jpg, The Conspiracy File:Woman-in-White-1912-Gem-4.jpg, The Wedding File:Woman-in-White-1912-Gem-5.jpg, The Abduction File:Woman-in-White-1912-Gem-6.jpg, The Death of Sir Percival

References

External links

*
The Woman in White
' in '' The Motion Picture Story Magazine'', November 1912 (pp. 49–56)
''The Woman in White'' filmography
at ''Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History'' by Q. David Bowers * (Gem Motion Picture Company) * (Thanhouser Company) {{DEFAULTSORT:Woman White 1912 American silent short films 1912 films 1912 drama films Films based on British novels Films based on works by Wilkie Collins Lost American films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films 1912 lost films Lost drama films Films directed by George Nichols 1910s American films American drama short films