''Tongues of Flame'' is a 1924 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 ...

produced by

Famous Players–Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and ...

and distributed through Paramount Pictures. It is based on a novel by Peter Clark MacFarlane and was directed by Joseph Henabery. The film starred

Thomas Meighan Thomas Meighan (April 9, 1879 – July 8, 1936) was an American actor of silent films and early talkies. He played several leading-man roles opposite popular actresses of the day, including Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson. At one point he co ...

and

Bessie Love Bessie Love (born Juanita Horton; September 10, 1898April 26, 1986) was an American-British actress who achieved prominence playing innocent, young girls and wholesome leading ladies in silent and early sound films. Her acting career spanned e ...

. It was produced by

and distributed by Paramount Pictures.

Plot

The Native American Siwash people have been displaced from their land and live on a reservation. Wealthy Boland (Churchill) attempts to buy the reservation from the Siwash, who consult honest attorney Harrington (Meighan) for advice. Harrington looks into the contract and advises the Siwash to accept it. However, after the sale goes through, Boland drills for oil on the land, violating the contract. This angers Harrington, who exposes Boland's fraud. In retaliation, Boland has Harrington arrested on false charges. A local court looks into the surveys associated with Boland's contracts, and returns all the Siwash native lands to them. Harrington is released from prison, and falls in love with the Siwash schoolteacher Lahleet (Love).

Cast

Production

The picture was filmed at

Great Neck Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Point, and Russell Gardens, and a number of unincor ...

and

Manhasset Bay Manhasset Bay, New York, is an embayment in western Long Island off Long Island Sound. Description Manhasset Bay forms the northeastern boundary of the Great Neck Peninsula and the southwestern boundary of Cow Neck (Port Washington Peninsula ...

on Long Island, New York.

Reception

The film received generally negative reviews, although Bessie Love's performance was praised.

Preservation

With no prints of ''Tongues of Flame'' located in any film archives, it is a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

References

External links

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Posters and film stills
1924 drama films 1924 lost films 1924 films American black-and-white films Silent American drama films American silent feature films Famous Players-Lasky films Films about Native Americans Films based on American novels Films directed by Joseph Henabery Lost American drama films Melodrama films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub