''Tongues of Flame'' is a 1924 American
silent melodrama film
A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...
produced by
Famous Players–Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...
and distributed through
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. It is based on a novel by
Peter Clark MacFarlane and was directed by
Joseph Henabery
Joseph Henabery (January 15, 1888 – February 18, 1976) of Omaha, Nebraska, was a film actor, screenplay writer, and director in the United States. He is best known for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in D.W. Griffith's controversial 1915 sile ...
. The film starred
Thomas Meighan
Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he comm ...
and
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 ...
. It was produced by
Famous Players–Lasky
Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...
and distributed by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.
Plot
The
Native American Siwash people have been displaced from their land and live on a
reservation. Wealthy Boland (Churchill) attempts to buy the reservation from the Siwash, who consult honest attorney Harrington (Meighan) for advice. Harrington looks into the contract and advises the Siwash to accept it. However, after the sale goes through, Boland drills for oil on the land, violating the contract. This angers Harrington, who exposes Boland's fraud. In retaliation, Boland has Harrington arrested on false charges.
A local court looks into the surveys associated with Boland's contracts, and returns all the Siwash native lands to them. Harrington is released from prison, and falls in love with the Siwash schoolteacher Lahleet (Love).
Cast
Production
The picture was filmed at
Great Neck
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...
and
Manhasset Bay
Manhasset Bay, New York, is an embayment in western Long Island off Long Island Sound.
Description
Manhasset Bay forms the northeastern boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula and the southwestern boundary of Cow Neck (Port Washington Peninsula ...
on
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
.
Reception
The film received generally negative reviews,
although Bessie Love's performance was praised.
Preservation
With no prints of ''Tongues of Flame'' located in any film archives,
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 ...
.
See also
*
Whitewashing in film
Whitewashing is a casting practice in the film industry in which white actors are cast in non-white roles. As defined by Merriam-Webster, to whitewash is "to alter...in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as...casting a ...
References
External links
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Posters and film stills
1924 drama films
1924 lost films
1924 films
American black-and-white films
Silent American drama films
American silent feature films
Famous Players-Lasky films
Films about Native Americans
Films based on American novels
Films directed by Joseph Henabery
Lost American drama films
Melodrama films
1920s American films
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