''A Girl's Folly'' is a 1917 American silent

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Maurice Tourneur Maurice Félix Thomas (; 2 February 1876 – 4 August 1961), known as Maurice Tourneur (), was a French film director and screenwriter. Life Born Maurice Félix Thomas in the Épinettes district (17th arrondissement of Paris), his father was a w ...

and starring

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

Doris Kenyon Doris Margaret Kenyon (September 5, 1897 – September 1, 1979) was an American actress of film and television. Early life She grew up in Syracuse, New York, where her family had a home at 1805 Harrison Street. Her father, Dr. James B. Keny ...

June Elvidge June Elvidge (June 30, 1893 – May 1, 1965) was an early 20th-century silent film actress. Biography Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Elvidge, of English and Irish descent, attended Pennsylvania College and was a concert singer before she bega ...

, Jane Adair, Chester Barnett, and

Johnny Hines John F. Hines (July 25, 1895 – October 24, 1970) was an American actor who had numerous film roles during the silent era, including many starring ones. He appeared in more than 50 films and numerous film shorts. But he did not succeed in t ...

. Tourneur also played the director for the film within the film.

Plot

A young girl, who wants more from the environment of her small town, comes across a film crew shooting a western. When the leading man she befriends encourages her to become an actress, she moves to the big city. However, things do not turn out quite the way she planned.

Cast

Production

Several scenes in the film show areas of the Paragon Films studio in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

, including the film lab, editing room, printing plant, spray chamber, cafeteria, dressing rooms, and film sets.

Preservation

Prints of ''A Girl's Folly'' in various grades of completeness are held in several film archives including the Cineteca Del Friuli (Gemona),

BFI National 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 th ...

George Eastman Museum 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 ...

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As a nonpro ...

, and

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, with a complete copy donated from a private collection to the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

and Library of Congress in 1972. An incomplete print was also found in 1978 in the

Dawson Film Find The Dawson Film Find (DFF) was the accidental discovery in 1978 of 372 film titles preserved in 533 reels of silent-era nitrate films in the Klondike Gold Rush town of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. The reels had been buried under an abandoned hock ...

preserved by

permafrost Permafrost () is soil or underwater sediment which continuously remains below for two years or more; the oldest permafrost has been continuously frozen for around 700,000 years. Whilst the shallowest permafrost has a vertical extent of below ...

.Library and Archives Canada, Dawson Film Find: ''A Girl's Folly''
/ref>

References

External links

*
Stills and commentary
at moviessilently.com

at silentfilmstillarchive.com * 1917 films Silent American comedy films American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1917 comedy films Films directed by Maurice Tourneur World Film Company films 1910s American films Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey 1910s English-language films {{1910s-comedy-film-stub