''The Savage'' is a 1917 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 ...

starring Colleen Moore and

Monroe Salisbury Monroe Salisbury (May 8, 1876 – August 7, 1935) was an American actor. He appeared on the stage for several years and then became an early film star. Salisbury was a matinee idol. He began his acting career on the stage in 1898, appearin ...

that is set in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and was directed by

Rupert Julian Rupert Julian (born Thomas Percival Hayes; 25 January 1879 – 27 December 1943) was a New Zealand cinema actor, director, writer and producer. During his career, Julian directed 60 films and acted in over 90 films. He is best remembered for di ...

. The film is presumed to be

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 ...

Story

Marie Louise returns home from finishing school, and catches the eye of Julio Sandoval, an emotional

half-breed Half-breed is a term, now considered offensive, used to describe anyone who is of mixed race; although, in the United States, it usually refers to people who are half Native American and half European/white. Use by governments United States I ...

. She is engaged to Captain McKeever of the

mounted police Mounted police are police who patrol on horseback or camelback. Their day-to-day function is typically picturesque or ceremonial, but they are also employed in crowd control because of their mobile mass and height advantage and increasingly in t ...

, but Sandoval wants her for himself. Finding her alone in the woods, the half-breed carries her to his cabin, but he is taken ill. Marie nurses him back to health, and when a rescue party arrives for her, she protects him. Back in town, Marie discovers McKeever has been taken prisoner by the outlaw Joe Bedotte. Julio goes to the rescue, losing his life in the process.

Cast

Ruth Clifford Ruth Clifford (February 17, 1900 – November 30, 1998) was an American actress of leading roles in silent films, whose career lasted from that era into the television era. Early years Clifford was born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the daughter ...

as Marie Louise * Colleen Moore as Lizette *

as Julio Sandoval *Allen Sears as Captain McKeever (credited as Allan Sears) *W. H. Bainbridge as Michael Montague *

Arthur Tavares Arthur Tavares was an American actor and film editor who was active in Hollywood from the 1910s through the 1930s. Biography Arthur was born in San Francisco to Jayme Tavares and Maria Botelho, both of whom were Portuguese immigrants. During th ...

as Joe Bedotte *George Franklin as Baptiste *

Duke R. Lee Duke R. Lee (May 13, 1881 – April 1, 1959) was an American actor. Lee's career began when he performed in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, and he later played Buffalo Bill on film. He appeared in more than 90 films between 1913 and 1946. I ...

as Pierre (credited as Duke Lee)

Production

Shortly after Colleen Moore's arrival in Hollywood, the

Triangle Film Corporation Triangle Film Corporation (also known as Triangle Motion Picture Company) was a major American motion-picture studio, founded in July 1915 in Culver City, California and terminated 7 years later in 1922. History The studio was founded in July 1 ...

went through a reorganization with the departure of D. W. Griffith for Europe. Colleen's contract was with Griffith's studio, not Triangle, and so she found herself on contract with no projects. She found a part in Universal Bluebird's film ''The Savage'' and was given several weeks off from her contract to film her part. In the film, Colleen plays the part of Lizette, a half-breed like Julio. This would be one of several "exotic" roles Colleen would play during her career, including her part as a Persian in ''

The Devil's Claim ''The Devil's Claim'' is a 1920 American silent drama film starring Sessue Hayakawa and Colleen Moore. A print of this film survives. Story As summarized in a film publication, Akbar Khan, a novelist in New York, uses his love affairs as inspir ...

''. After this film, Colleen went on to work at the Selig Polyscope Company.

Reception

Like many American films of the time, ''The Savage'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required cuts of the holdup and stealing of a letter, two scenes of the holdup of the officer at point of knife, binding the officer to the cabin wall, two closeups of men leering at the young woman after the

intertitle In films, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (i.e., ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred to as "dialo ...

"Give me a leetle kiss", and three closeups of the half-breed's face as he looks at the unconscious young woman in the cabin. The Board later made additional cuts in Reel 3 of all closeups of the half-breed leering at young woman at brookside, all but the first scene of the half-breed chasing her, the entire incident of half-breed laying unconscious woman on couch-bed including all closeups of man's passionate contortions and girl's scared face, intertitle "The white man's instinct struggles for supremacy", all other views of couple, and the intertitle "They'll kill you for this".

References

Bibliography

*Jeff Codori (2012), ''Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star''
McFarland Publishing
, EBook . *

External links

*
''Savage'' (1917)
''New York Times'' overview * A novelization of ''The Savage''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Savage American silent feature films Films directed by Rupert Julian Films set in Canada 1917 films Lost American films Universal Pictures films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films 1917 drama films 1917 lost films Lost drama films 1910s American films