''The Folly of Vanity'' is a 1924 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 ...

codirected by

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

and

Henry Otto Henry Otto (August 8, 1877 – August 3, 1952) was an American silent film actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. Otto contributed to over 150 films throughout his career working as an actor and a director throughout. He directed many ...

and starring

Billie Dove Lillian Bohny (born Bertha Eugenie Bohny; May 14, 1903 – December 31, 1997), known professionally as Billie Dove, was an American actress. Early life and career Dove was born Bertha Eugenie Bohny in New York City in 1903 to Charles and Ber ...

and Betty Blythe. It was produced and distributed by the

Fox Film Corporation The Fox Film Corporation (also known as Fox Studios) was an American Independent film production studio formed by William Fox (1879–1952) in 1915, by combining his earlier Greater New York Film Rental Company and Box Office Attractions Film C ...

. The film is divided into two sections, the modern part which was directed by Elvey and the underwater fantasy section directed by Otto.

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, Alice (Dove), a beautiful young wife, loves jewelry and spends some money intended for other purposes to buy an imitation pearl necklace. Her husband Robert (Muhall) invites Ridgeway (St. Polis), a wealthy client, to dinner. Ridgeway is a conisseur of women and pearls and invites the young couple to a party he is giving. Robert chides Alice for buying the pearls and declines the invitation but Allice, determined to go, gets her way. Ridgeway presents his guests with expensive jewelry as souvenirs and, unable to persuades Alice to take any, insists that she wear a beautiful pearl necklace to restore the lustre of her imitation pearls. The whole crowd is invited on a yacht cruise where Ridgeway is attentive to Alice, while a wealthy widow (Blythe) attracts Robert. Alice and Robert have a quarrel. That night Alice dreams that Ridgeway is attempting to attack her. She jumps into the sea and is carried to Neptune's court where all wonders and beauties are shown her. Neptune (Klein) is depicted as surrounded by beautiful maidens who are scatily clad or unclad. A festival is held in Alice's honor. A witch (Drovnar) discovers that an imprint has been on her neck by the pearl necklace, a mark of vanity, and Neptune orders her cast out. Awakening, she returns the necklace to Ridgeway and by error enters Roberts room, where a reconciliation occurs.

Cast

Production

Portions of the dream fantasy sequence were tinted in various shades, some to indicate being underwater.

Preservation

A print of ''The Folly of Vanity'' reportedly is held in the

Národní filmový archiv The National Film Archive (, abb. NFA) is a film archive located in Prague, Czech Republic. It was established in 1943 (From 1943 to 1945 known as Filmový archiv, from 1945 to 1989 Československý filmový ústav, then from 1990 to 1992 Český f ...

and in an American collection.The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Folly of Vanity''
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References

External links

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at silentfilmstillarchive.com 1924 films American silent feature films Fox Film films Films directed by Henry Otto Films directed by Maurice Elvey 1924 drama films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub