''The Charm School'' is a

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 ...

1921 American silent comedy film starring

Wallace Reid William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver. Early life Reid was born in St. Louis, M ...

. 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 ...

this

James Cruze James Cruze (born James Cruze Bosen; March 27, 1884 – August 3, 1942) was a silent film actor and film director. Early years Cruze's middle name came from the battle of Vera Cruz. He was raised in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

directed film was based on a 1920 Broadway stage play and novel by

Alice Duer Miller Alice Duer Miller (July 28, 1874 – August 22, 1942) was an American writer whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses influenced political opinion during the American suffrage movement, and her verse novel ''The W ...

that starred veteran actress

Minnie Dupree Minnie Dupree (January 19, 1875 – May 23, 1947) was an American stage, film, and radio actress. During the Great Depression, she helped organize the Stage Relief Fund to assist unemployed actors and actresses. Biography Born in San Francis ...

. It is currently 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 ...

.''The Charm School'' as presented on Broadway, Bijou Theatre; August-October 1920
/ref> It was filmed on the campus of

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...

Plot

As summarized in a film publication, when Mrs. Rolles (Farrington) insists that she will not have Austin Bevans (Reid) as a son-in-law, he insists that she will. But when his aunt dies and leaves Austin a girl's boarding school in her will, Austin gives up his suit of Susie Rolles (Bains) and decides to run the school. Under his aunt's regime the girls studied microbes, etc., but Austin turns it into a charm school where the girls are taught dancing, fencing, and grace in general. Elsie (Lee), one of the students, immediately falls in love with Austin, but he fails to respond. She then tries to

vamp The VaMP driverless car was one of the first truly autonomous cars Dynamic Vision for Perc ...

him, but when Austin does not fall she tells him directly that she loves him. Elsie's uncle is very interested in the young Austin. When Mrs. Rolles hears of how well he is getting along, she tries to patch things up between Austin and her daughter Susie, and tells Elsie that the two are engaged. While Elsie is brokenhearted, in the end all turns out well for her and Austin.

Cast

- Austin Bevans *

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...

- Elsie *

Adele Farrington Adele Farrington (1867 – 19 December 1936) was an American actress of the silent film era. Biography Born Anna King in Brooklyn, New York, Farrington was a stage actress before appearing in 74 films between 1914 and 1926. She was a relatively ...

- Mrs. Rolles *Beulah Bains - Susie Rolles * Edwin Stevens - Homer Johns *Grace Morse - Miss Hayes *Patricia Magee - Sally Boyd *

Lincoln Stedman Lincoln Stedman (May 18, 1907 – March 22, 1948) was an American silent film actor. Biography Stedman was born in Denver, Colorado, the only child to Marshall Stedman and silent film beauty Myrtle Stedman. Stedman had a career in films dat ...

- George Boyd *

Kate Toncray Kate Toncray (1867 – December 6, 1927) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in more than 170 films between 1905 and 1925. She was born in St. Louis, Missouri and died in Manhattan, New York City.Snitz Edwards Snitz Edwards (born Edward Neumann, 1 January 1868 – 1 May 1937) was a stage and character actor of the early years of the silent film era into the 1930s. Biography Born into a Jewish household on New Year's Day 1868 in Budapest, Hungary ( ...

- Mr. Boyd *Helen Pillsbury - Mrs. Boyd *Tina Marshall - Europia

Remake

The story was remade in 1936 as the film '' Collegiate''.

References

External links

* *
lobby poster for ''The Charm School''
Wayback Machine) 1921 films American silent feature films Lost American films Films directed by James Cruze Famous Players-Lasky films Silent American comedy films 1921 comedy films American black-and-white films Films based on works by Alice Duer Miller 1921 lost films Lost comedy films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films {{1920s-silent-comedy-film-stub