''Capital Punishment'' is a surviving 1925 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 ...

directed by James P. Hogan and starring

Clara Bow Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...

Margaret Livingston Margaret Livingston (born Marguerite Livingston; November 25, 1895 – December 13, 1984), sometimes credited as Marguerite Livingstone or Margaret Livingstone, was an American film actress and businesswoman during the silent film era. She is ...

Mary Carr Mary Carr (née Kenevan; March 14, 1874 – June 24, 1973), was an American film actress and was married to the actor William Carr. She appeared in more than 140 films between 1915 and 1956. She was given some of filmdoms plum mother roles in ...

, and

Elliott Dexter Elliott Dexter (March 29, 1870 – June 21, 1941) was an American film and stage actor. Dexter started his career in vaudeville and did not move to films until he was 45. He retired from acting in 1925. Biography Dexter was born in Galves ...

. It was produced by

B. P. Schulberg B. P. Schulberg (born Percival Schulberg, January 19, 1892 – February 25, 1957) was an American pioneer film producer and film studio executive. Biography Born Percival Schulberg in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he took the name Benjamin from the ...

and is now in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...

. It was written and produced with the intent of challenging the viewing public question the use of

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, a prologue shows a youth, wrongly convicted of murder, is placed in an

electric chair An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...

with the Governor (Kilgour) frantically attempting to call it off, ending with the throwing of a switch to show the

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

taking place. In the main story, Gordon Harrington (Dexter) wagers Harry Phillips (Ellis) that he can have an innocent convicted of murder. He persuades Dan O'Connor (Hackathorne), a youth who has been in trouble with the police but has reformed, to be the subject of the experiment. Dan needs the money for his mother and also wants to marry Delia Tate (Bow). Phillips disappears and is reported murdered. Dan is arrested when he pawns articles bearing Phillips’ monogram, and is convicted based upon

circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact—such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly—i.e., without need ...

. In the meantime, Phillips and Harrington have fought over Mona Caldwell (Livingston), and when the latter is accidentally killed, Mona persuades Harrington to let Dan pay the penalty rather than risk execution himself. Dan, Della, and a friendly policeman (Boteler) attempt to locate Harrington, and at last the Prison Warden (Nichols) gets Harrington on the telephone. Dan, flabbergasted when Harrington denies knowledge of any experiment, becomes a terror stricken boy overwhelmed by the injustice and inevitableness of it all. Dan's death impends when Mona confesses to the Governor, and a repentant Harrington pounds the prison gates. The governor saves him in the nick of time, but Dan is a wreck of a human being and must be held and nursed back before he can forget what almost happened.

Cast

Preservation

Prints of ''Capital Punishment'' are held at the

Filmmuseum Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in t ...

in Amsterdam and the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the archiv ...

.The Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Capital Punishment''
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References

External links

* * *Lobby card
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1925 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Melodrama films Silent American drama films 1925 drama films Preferred Pictures films Films directed by James Patrick Hogan 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub