''The Woman in White'' is a 1929 British silent

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, i ...

directed by

Herbert Wilcox Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director. He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wif ...

(whose main career was as a producer) and starring

Blanche Sweet Sarah Blanche Sweet (June 18, 1896 – September 6, 1986) was an American silent film actress who began her career in the earliest days of the Hollywood motion picture film industry. Early life Born Sarah Blanche Sweet (though her first nam ...

Haddon Mason Haddon Mason (21 February 1898 – 30 April 1966) was a British film actor. Selected filmography * ''Every Mother's Son'' (1926) * ''Dawn'' (1928) * '' The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1928) * ''The Lady of the Lake'' (1928) * '' The Woma ...

and

Cecil Humphreys Cecil Humphreys (1883–1947) was a British film and theatre actor who played in 46 films between 1916 and 1948, mostly in supporting roles as doctors, aristocrats, and generals. Among his best-known roles were Judge Linton, in the 1939 version ...

. It was written by Robert Cullen and Herbert Wilcox, based on the 1859 mystery novel '' The Woman in White'' by

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for '' The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for '' The Moonstone'' (1868), which has b ...

. The film was made at

Cricklewood Studios Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which als ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and was the first British film version of the novel. Some sources disagree on whether the film was actually made in England or in Scotland, however.

Plot

A recently married heiress named Laura Fairlie keeps seeing visions of a woman in white around her estate. Laura is unaware that her husband Sir Percival Glyde is plotting to steal her inheritance. Her sister Marion learns of the plot, but falls ill before she can warn Laura. When Marion recovers from her illness, she learns that Laura has died and has been buried. Laura's old boyfriend Walter Hartwright discovers however that Laura isn't really dead. It seems Laura had a lookalike (the woman in white) who actually died, and Laura's husband had Laura committed to an insane asylum and pretended that it was she who died.

Cast

- Laura Fairlie / Anne (a dual role) *

- Walter Hartwright *

- Sir Percival Glyde * Louise Prussing - Marion Halcombe *

Frank Perfitt Frank James Robert Perfitt (1880 – 1958) was a British film actor, born in Norwich, Norfolk in 1880. He died in Surrey in 1958. Selected filmography * '' The Flying Fifty-Five'' (1924) * '' Love and Hate'' (1924) * ''The Sins Ye Do'' (1924) * ...

- Count Fosco *

Minna Grey Minna Grey (1877 in London, England – 1935) was an English actress of the silent era. Death Grey died in 1935, 2 days before her 59th birthday. Selected filmography * '' The Shulamite'' (1915) * ''Just a Girl'' (1916) * '' The Second Mrs. T ...

- Countess Fosco

Production

The film's art direction was by

Clifford Pember Clifford Fanshawe Pember (1881–1955) was a British art director notable for his set designs in British cinema and theatre. Pember worked on films during the late silent and early sound eras. Pember originally trained as an architect. In 1928 ...

. Blanche Sweet played the dual role of both Laura (the heiress) and her lookalike (the woman in white).

Other Versions

Several silent versions were made, one in 1912 and one by Fox in 1917 entitled '' Tangled Lives''. Another 1917 silent version was filmed by

Thanhouser The Thanhouser Company (later the Thanhouser Film Corporation) was one of the first motion picture studios, founded in 1909 by Edwin Thanhouser, his wife Gertrude and his brother-in-law Lloyd Lonergan. It operated in New York City until 1920, ...

and starred

Florence La Badie Florence La Badie (born Florence Russ; April 27, 1888 – October 13, 1917) was an American-Canadian actress in the early days of the silent film era. She was a major star between 1911 and 1917. Her career was at its height when she died a ...

, which still survives in the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

. It was remade again in England in 1940 as a horror film called ''

Crimes at the Dark House ''Crimes at the Dark House'' (originally titled ''The Woman in White'') is a (1940) British film directed by George King starring Tod Slaughter, Sylvia Marriott and Hilary Eaves. It is loosely based on the 1860 novel '' The Woman in White'' by ...

'' (starring

Tod Slaughter Norman Carter Slaughter (19 March 1885 – 19 February 1956), also known as Tod Slaughter, was an English actor, best known for playing over-the-top maniacs in macabre film adaptations of Victorian melodramas. Early life Slaughter was born o ...

), and remade yet again in 1948.

References

Bibliography

* Low, Rachael. ''History of the British Film, 1918-1929''. George Allen & Unwin, 1971. * Wood, Linda. ''British Films, 1927-1939''. British Film Institute, 1986.

External links

*
allrovi/synopsis
1929 films British mystery films British silent feature films 1929 mystery films 1920s English-language films Films based on works by Wilkie Collins Films directed by Herbert Wilcox Films set in London Films set in England Films shot at Cricklewood Studios British black-and-white films British and Dominions Studios films 1920s British films Silent mystery films {{1920s-UK-film-stub