''The Price of Silence'' is a 1916 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-g ...

directed by

Joe De Grasse Joseph Louis De Grasse (May 4, 1873 – May 25, 1940) was a Canadians, Canadian film director. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he was the elder brother of actor Sam De Grasse. Biography Joseph De Grasse had studied and was a first-class grad ...

and starring

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

. The screenplay was written by

Ida May Park Ida May Park (December 28, 1879 – June 13, 1954) was an American screenwriter and film director of the silent era, in the early 20th century. She wrote for more than 50 films between 1914 and 1930, and directed 14 films between 1917 and 192 ...

, based on the short story by W. Carey Wonderly. A print is housed at the French archive

Centre national du cinéma et de l'image animée Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Fort de Bois-d'Arcy The Fort de Bois-d'Arcy, also called the Batterie de Bois-d'Arcy, is one of the forts constructed at the end of the 19th century to defend Paris. It is located in the commune of Bois d'Arcy in the Yvelines département of France. The fort is loc ...

. A still also exists showing Chaney in his role of the blackmailing Dr. Stafford. There were four other silent films entitled ''The Price of Silence'', but this was the only one released in 1916.

Plot

After committing a minor misdeed, Helen, an orphan living with her aunt and her cousin Emily, is sent to the suburbs to live with a very strict family. She falls in love with a man named Ralph Kelton, and while riding in the countryside one day, a great storm comes up and they are forced to take refuge in an old man's house. Planning to be married the following day, the two spend the night together. But soon after they have sex, Ralph is killed by a bolt of lightning that strikes the house. Dr. Stafford (Lon Chaney) is summoned, and Helen happens to mention to the doctor that she and Ralph were not married (not realizing she is now pregnant). Helen returns home and plans to marry a young millionaire named Oliver Urmy, but she soon discovers she is pregnant. When Oliver and his father must travel out of state for a time, Helen moves in with her old nurse. She gives birth to a son, who she leaves in the care of her nurse's daughter Jenny, since Jenny is married and is able to raise the child. Oliver returns and marries Helen unaware that she has given birth, and the following year, Helen gives birth to Oliver's daughter named Arline. Helen's cousin Emily has married, but her husband has died, so Helen and Oliver set out to find her a new husband. Skip ahead seventeen years. Arline, now a mature teenager, is in love with Billy Cupps. Helen fears that Billy Cupps is her own son (Ralph Kelton's offspring), which would make him Arline's half-brother! Oliver invites Dr. Stafford to visit them, planning to get him romantically interested in Emily. Dr. Stafford immediately recognizes Helen, but she does not remember him. Instead of courting Emily, Dr. Stafford wants to marry Helen's daughter Arline instead, and threatens Helen with exposure unless she consents to their marriage. Arline instead elopes with Billy Cupps, and Oliver receives a letter from Arline saying she and Billy were married, and he and Dr. Stafford set out after her. During the drive, Stafford makes insinuations about Helen, enraging Oliver. Oliver loses control of the car when he physically attacks the doctor. When the car crashes, Stafford is killed and Oliver is injured. Jenny tells Helen that her son had died as a baby a short time after she adopted him, and fearing the loss of the money Helen was sending her every month, Jenny had substituted a child of her own without telling Helen. Helen finds him to be a fine lad, and welcomes him as her son-in-law.

Cast

Dorothy Phillips Dorothy Phillips (born Dorothy Gwendolyn Strible, October 30, 1889 – March 1, 1980) was an American stage and film actress. She is known for her emotional performances in melodramas, having played a number of "brow beaten" women on screen, bu ...

as Helen Urmy *

as Dr. Edmond Stafford *

Jack Mulhall John Joseph Francis Mulhall (October 7, 1887 – June 1, 1979) was an American film actor beginning in the silent film era who successfully transitioned to sound films, appearing in over 430 films in a career spanning 50 years. Early years Mu ...

as Ralph Kelton *

Frank Whitson Frank Whitson (March 22, 1877 – March 19, 1946) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1915 and 1937. He was born in New York, New York, and died in Los Angeles, California. Whitson performed in vaudeville a ...

as Oliver Urmy *

Evelyn Selbie Evelyn Selbie (July 6, 1871 – December 7, 1950) was an American stage actress and performer in both silent and sound films. Biography Born in Louisville, Kentucky, as a young woman Selbie was a sidesaddle rider. She had a career which last ...

as Jenny Cupps *

Jay Belasco Jay Belasco (January 11, 1888 May 1, 1949), born Reginald James Belasco, was an American film actor whose career mostly involved silent film. Belasco was born in Brooklyn, New York, and was a cousin of actors Walter Belasco and David Belasco. H ...

as Billy Cupps * J. Edwin Brown as Landlord (credited as Eddie Brown) *

Vola Vale Vola Vale (born Vola Smith; February 12, 1897 – October 17, 1970) was a silent film actress. Early career Vale was born in Buffalo, New York and educated in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Her high school friends in Rochester, New York, where she w ...

as Aline

Reception

"''The Price of Silence'', while it is a well-made production, is unfortunately based on an unpleasant theme, presenting situations that are tense and undeniably dramatic, but at the same time vesting certain characters with unheroic temperments, where actions reflecting moral heroism would be more liable to excite sympathy...Considerable is made in the production of bedroom and undress scenes; more in fact than would give the production a place among films for young people." ---''Moving Picture World'' "The (film) is not for that sort of an audience (puritanical). Which of course doesn't mean the picture is void of value. Quite the opposite. It is full of value for the exhibitor who caters to a group of people who are inclined to look for peppers and spices in their entertainment.... Lon Chaney is polished as the villain, obviously villainous."Blake, Michael F. (1998). ''The Films of Lon Chaney''. Vestal Press Inc. p. 67. .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Price of Silence, The 1916 films 1916 drama films Silent American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Joseph De Grasse Universal Pictures films 1910s American films