''Triumph'' 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-g ...

directed by

Joe De Grasse Joseph Louis De Grasse (May 4, 1873 – May 25, 1940) was a Canadians, Canadian film director. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he was the elder brother of actor Sam De Grasse. Biography Joseph De Grasse had studied and was a first-class grad ...

, written by

Fred Myton Fred Myton (November 15, 1885 – June 6, 1955) was an American screenwriter. He wrote 168 films between 1916 and 1952, mostly low-budget "B" pictures for Poverty Row studios and independent producers. He wrote many films for Producers Re ...

, starring

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

and

Dorothy Phillips Dorothy Phillips (born Dorothy Gwendolyn Strible, October 30, 1889 – March 1, 1980) was an American stage and film actress. She is known for her emotional performances in melodramas, having played a number of "brow beaten" women on screen, bu ...

. The screenplay was adapted from a short story by

Samuel Hopkins Adams Samuel Hopkins Adams (January 26, 1871 – November 16, 1958) was an American writer who was an investigative journalist and muckraker. Background Adams was born in Dunkirk, New York. Adams was a muckraker, known for exposing public-health inju ...

. It was produced by

Bluebird Photoplays Bluebird Photoplays (Bluebird Photoplays of New York, Inc. and Bluebird Photoplays of New England, Inc.) was an American film production company that filmed at Universal Pictures studios in California and New Jersey, and distributed its films via ...

and released by

Universal Film Manufacturing Company Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. Only the first three of the five reels of this film survive, and the third reel is heavily decomposed. Two stills exist showing Lon Chaney as the terminally ill Paul Neihoff (see plot). Like many American films of the time, ''Triumph'' was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. The Chicago Board of Censors required cuts in Reel 3 of intertitles "What did you pay him?" and "If you haven't paid him yet, you will;" in Reel 4 intertitles "Its not done in these days, you pay for what you get" and "Your triumph or Paul Neihoff's?"... all scenes between man and girl where she seems to assent to his indecent proposals, and the scene showing the actual stabbing of Mr, Monteith; and in Reel 5 the scenes of the suicides of both Neihoff and Nell.

Plot

Nell Baxter, an aspiring actress, decides to leave her hometown and go to Broadway where she has been told she will surely triumph as a great star. At the train station, she meets a troupe of road-show actors and becomes friendly with Dudley Weyman, one of the actors. He urges her not to move to the big city, but she does not heed his advice and soon finds herself stranded in Manhattan without employment. Nell is hanging around a Broadway theatre looking for work, when she is spotted by Dudley Weyman who introduces her to the theatre manager. Dudley not only gets her a part in the show, but he soon falls in love with her, although Nell feels only friendship for him. The manager, David Montieth, is also attracted to Nell, but she only has eyes for Paul Neihoff (Lon Chaney), an unemotional drama critic who only cares about getting his play produced. Playing on her affections, Neihoff gets Nell to entice Mr. Montieth into reading his play by coming on to him. Montieth, thinking Nell is in love with him, agrees to produce Paul's play and gives Nell the lead role in it. Another actress, jealous of the attention Nell is getting, purposely allows Mr. Montieth to see Nell and Neihoff in a romantic embrace in Nell's dressing room. In a rage, Montieth announces that he will not produce the play, and he knocks Neihoff down on the floor. Nell goes to Mr. Montieth's apartment to plead with him not to cancel the production. He tries to rape her, and she stabs him to death with a prop knife. She gives Neihoff and Dudley the news and Neihoff tells them both to go on with the show as if nothing happened. It seems Neihoff's doctor had told him earlier that week that he is terminally ill, so the dying critic writes a fake confession to Monteith's murder and then poisons himself. Nell learns during the intermission how Neihoff lied to protect her from a murder rap. Nell goes on stage for the final scene in which she is to stab herself, and instead of using the fake dagger, she plunges a real dagger into her heart, dying in Dudley's arms. The scene suddenly flashes back to the train station where Dudley is telling Nell the story of another girl named Nell whom he once loved. As the train pulls away, Nell decides to remain in her small town and forego moving to the big city.

Cast

- Nell Baxter *

- Paul Neihoff *

William Stowell William Stowell (March 13, 1885 – November 24, 1919) was an American silent film actor. A handsome actor with matinee idol good looks, Stowell was signed into film in 1909 with IMP (forerunner of Universal Studios), and debuted by sta ...

- Dudley Weyman * William Dyer - David Montieth (credited as William J. Dyer) *

Claire Du Brey Claire Du Brey (born Clara Violet Dubreyvich, August 31, 1892 – August 1, 1993) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 200 films between 1916 and 1959. Her name is sometimes rendered as Claire Du Bray or as Claire Dubrey. Ear ...

- Lillian Du Pon * Clyde Benson - Rupert Vincent * Helen Wright - Character Woman *

Ruth Elder Ruth Elder (September 8, 1902October 9, 1977) was an aviation pioneer and actress. She carried private pilot certificate P675, and was known as the "Miss America of Aviation." She was a charter member of the Ninety-Nines. In October 1927 she too ...

- Second Woman *

Nigel De Brulier Nigel De Brulier (born Francis George Packer; 8 August 1877 – 30 January 1948) was an English stage and film actor who began his career in the United Kingdom before relocating to the United States. Biography De Brulier was born in Frenchay, a ...

(uncredited) * William Langdon Pragen (uncredited)

Preservation

The three surviving reels of ''Triumph'' (Reels 1, 2 and 3) were restored by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of m ...

in 2012. Most of the third reel was very decomposed. The 4th and 5th reels no longer exist.

Reception

"The audience is cheated at the beginning of the story within a story...The tragic story within the story would make a very good photoplay without the outside story." ---Moving Picture World "The finish is altogether unexpected because the visualization of the actor's narration is not suggested in any way and its enactment is vivid and stirring. A very good program feature." ---Variety "This is a picture of stage life and possesses more than the usual attraction of such productions due to its artistic and tasteful direction... The production is realistic from start to last." ---Motion Picture NewsBlake, Michael F. (1998). "The Films of Lon Chaney". Vestal Press Inc. Page 75. .

References

External links