''The Whistle'' is a 1921 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

Lambert Hillyer Lambert Harwood Hillyer (July 8, 1893 – July 5, 1969) was an American film director and screenwriter. Biography Lambert Harwood Hillyer was born July 8, 1893, in Tyner, Indiana. His mother was character actress Lydia Knott. A graduate of ...

and written by May Wilmoth, Olin Lyman and Lambert Hillyer. The film stars

William S. Hart William Surrey Hart (December 6, 1864 – June 23, 1946) was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered as a foremost Western star of the silent era who "imbued all of his characters with honor and integ ...

Frank Brownlee Frank Brownlee (October 11, 1874 – February 10, 1948) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films between 1911 and 1943. He was born in Dallas, Texas and died in Los Angeles, California. Selected filmography * '' Sol ...

Myrtle Stedman Myrtle Stedman (born Myrtle Lincoln; March 3, 1883 – January 8, 1938) was an American leading lady and later character actress in motion pictures who began in silent films in 1910. Biography Stedman was born Myrtle Lincoln in Chicago, Ill ...

, Georgie Stone, Will Jim Hatton, and Richard Headrick. The film was released in April 1921, 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 ...

. A print of the film is 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 is ...

Plot

Robert Evans (

) loses his son, Danny (Will Jim Hatton), due to dangerous working conditions. His employer, Henry Chapple (

), refuses to fix the problem. Evans takes revenge by kidnapping Chapple's son, Georgie (Georgie Stone), and raising him as he did his own. It's a life of labor, the opposite of the life which the Chapples would have given Georgie. Years later, Chapple meets Evans again while he is injured. He provides the best medical care he can for him, regardless of the cost. As Georgie spends more time with the Chapples, Mrs. Chapple (

) grows very fond of him. The Chapples ask if they can adopt him. Evans is divided between his revenge against Mr. Chapple and the love which Mrs. Chapple has for her son. At the end, Evans realizes that by taking fate into his own hands, he has made himself more unhappy than anyone.

Cast

as Robert Evans *

as Henry Chapple *

as Mrs. Chapple *Georgie Stone as Georgie *Will Jim Hatton as Danny Evans *Richard Headrick as Baby Chapple

Preservation status

*Prints held at the

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...

National Film and Television Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

, Academy Film Archive(Beverly Hills),

George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection The George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York comprises about 28,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and experimental moving images. The collection is renowned for its holdings of silent f ...

.''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'', (<-book title) p.108 c.1978 by the American Film Institute

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whistle (film), The 1921 films 1920s English-language films Silent American drama films 1921 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by Lambert Hillyer American black-and-white films Articles containing video clips American silent feature films 1920s American films