''To the Death'' is a 1917 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 ...
directed by
Burton L. King
Burton L. King (August 25, 1877 – May 4, 1944) was an American film actor and director. One of his best-known productions was '' The Lost Battalion'' (1919).
Selected filmography
* '' The Battle of Gettysburg'' (1913)
* ''Under the Crescent'' ...
and released by
Metro Pictures
Metro Pictures Corporation was a motion picture production company founded in early 1915 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a forerunner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The company produced its films in New York, Los Angeles, and sometimes at leased f ...
. The film is considered to be
lost
Lost may refer to getting lost, or to:
Geography
*Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland
* Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US
History
*Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...
.
Plot
As described in a film magazine, Bianca (Petrova) models in clay and makes laces for a living. She accepts an opportunity to go to Paris and receive an art education, promising to send for her sister Rosa (Brent) and mother. A secret service agent betrays Rosa, and Bianca hurries home. Upon the death of Rosa she swears vengeance. She promises to marry Lavinne (Standing), the secret service agent, if he will disclose Rosa's betrayer, and is horrified when Lavinne shows her the picture of Etienne (Hamilton), the man she loves. Etienne comes to her room and she plunges a dagger into his breast. Lavinne forces her to accompany him to a hotel room where he scornfully tells her that he won her by trickery, and of having used Etienne's assumed name to lure Rosa away from home. Lavinne's valet (Korlin) informs the police that Lavinne is a traitor to his country and he is arrested. Bianca returns to her studio where she finds Etienne recovering from his wound, and they face a future of happiness.
Cast
*
Olga Petrova
Olga Petrova (born Muriel Harding; 10 May 1884 – 30 November 1977) was a British-American actress, screenwriter and playwright.
Life and career
Born Muriel Harding in England, she moved to the United States and became a star of vaudeville u ...
as Bianca Sylva (credited as Mme. Olga Petrova)
*
Mahlon Hamilton
Mahlon Preston Hamilton, Jr. (June 15, 1880 – June 20, 1960), was an American stage and screen actor. He was the son of a bartender born in Baltimore, Maryland, the eldest of four children, with the rest of the siblings being girls. Census ...
as Etienne Du Inette
*
Wyndham Standing
Charles Wyndham Standing''Silent Film Necrology'', 2nd Edition by Eugene Michael Vazzana, c. 2001 page 497 (23 August 1880 – 1 February 1963) was an English film actor.
Early years
Standing was born in London, England and died in Los An ...
as Jules Lavinne
*
Henry Leone
Henry may refer to:
People
*Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
as Antonio Manatelli
*
Evelyn Brent
Evelyn Brent (born Mary Elizabeth Riggs; October 20, 1895 – June 4, 1975) was an American film and stage actress.
Early life
Brent was born in Tampa, Florida, and known as Betty. When she was age 10, her mother Eleanor (née. Warner) died, ...
as Rosa
*
Violet Reed
Violet Reed (born Violet Williams) was an American actress active in Hollywood during the silent era.
Biography
Reed was born in Chicago, Illinois, to John Williams and Hanna Mattson. Her father appears to have died when she was young. She wa ...
as The Woman of Mystery
*
Marion Singer as Maria
*
Boris Korlin
Boris may refer to:
People
* Boris (given name), a male given name
*:''See'': List of people with given name Boris
* Boris (surname)
* Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...
as Valet
Reception
Like many American films of the time, ''To the Death'' was subject to cuts by
city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors cut two scenes of the woman with a dagger taking an oath of vengeance at an altar.
See also
*
List of lost films
References
External links
*
{{Burton L. King
1917 films
1917 drama films
Silent American drama films
American silent feature films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Burton L. King
Lost American drama films
Films with screenplays by Lillian Case Russell
1917 lost films
1910s English-language films
Metro Pictures films
1910s American films