Cameo Kirby
Encyclopedia
Cameo Kirby is a 1923 silent
drama film
directed by John Ford
and featured Jean Arthur
in her onscreen debut. It was Ford's first film credited as John Ford instead of Jack Ford. It was based on a play by Booth Tarkington
and Harry Leon Wilson. The story had been filmed as a silent before in 1915 with Dustin Farnum
, who had originated the role on Broadway in 1909. The film was remade as an talking musical film in 1930.
Prints of the film exist in the UCLA Film and Television Archive
and at the Cinemateca Portuguesa (Portuguese Film Archive), in Lisbon.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
and featured Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur
Jean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
in her onscreen debut. It was Ford's first film credited as John Ford instead of Jack Ford. It was based on a play by Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams...
and Harry Leon Wilson. The story had been filmed as a silent before in 1915 with Dustin Farnum
Dustin Farnum
Dustin Lancy Farnum was an American singer, dancer and an actor in silent movies during the early days of motion pictures. After a great success in a number of stage roles, in 1914 he landed his first film role in the movie 'Soldiers of Fortune', and later in Cecil B. DeMille's The Squaw Man...
, who had originated the role on Broadway in 1909. The film was remade as an talking musical film in 1930.
Prints of the film exist in the UCLA Film and Television Archive
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
and at the Cinemateca Portuguesa (Portuguese Film Archive), in Lisbon.
Cast
- John GilbertJohn Gilbert (actor)John Gilbert was an American actor and a major star of the silent film era.Known as "the great lover," he rivaled even Rudolph Valentino as a box office draw...
- Cameo Kirby - Gertrude OlmsteadGertrude OlmsteadGertrude Olmstead was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 56 films between 1920 and 1929.-Career:...
- Adele Randall - Alan HaleAlan Hale, Sr.Alan Hale, Sr. was an American movie actor and director, most widely remembered for his many supporting character roles, in particular as frequent sidekick of Errol Flynn. His wife of over thirty years was Gretchen Hartman , a child actress and silent film player and mother of their three children...
- Colonel Moreau - Eric Mayne - Colonel Randall
- W. E. LawrenceW. E. LawrenceW. E. Lawrence was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 120 films between 1912 and 1947.He was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:...
- Tom Randall (as William E. Lawrence) - Richard TuckerRichard Tucker (actor)Richard Tucker was an American actor. He appeared in 266 films between 1911 and 1940.He was born in Brooklyn, New York. He was the first official member of the Screen Actors Guild and a founding member of SAG's Board of Directors...
- Cousin Aaron Randall - Phillips SmalleyPhillips SmalleyWendell Phillips Smalley was a prolific American silent film director and actor.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Smalley began his career in vaudeville and acted in more than 200 films between 1910 until his death in 1939...
- Judge Playdell - Jack McDonaldJack McDonald (actor)Jack McDonald was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 71 films between 1912 and 1930.He was born in San Francisco, California.-Selected filmography:* Show Boat * Don Q, Son of Zorro...
- Larkin Bunce - Jean ArthurJean ArthurJean Arthur was an American actress and a major film star of the 1930s and 1940s. She remains arguably the epitome of the female screwball comedy actress. As James Harvey wrote in his recounting of the era, "No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur...
- Ann Playdell - Eugenie FordeEugenie FordeEugenie Forde was an American silent film actress.She starred in a total of 73 films between 1912 and 1927 in films such as The Diamond from the Sky and Wives and Other Wives with actors such as Charlotte Burton and William Garwood.She was the mother of actress Victoria Forde.-Selected...
- Madame Davezac - Frank Baker (uncredited)
- Ken MaynardKen MaynardKen Maynard was an American motion picture stuntman and actor.-Biography:Born Kenneth Olin Maynard in Vevay, Indiana, he was one of five children. His younger brother, Kermit Maynard, also became a stuntman and actor....
(uncredited) - Ynez SeaburyYnez SeaburyYnez Seabury was an American actress of the stage, silent and early sound film era.-Film and Stage Actress:...
(uncredited)