Hand that Rocks the Cradle
Encyclopedia
Hand That Rocks the Cradle is an American
silent film
released in 1917. It was written, produced and directed by the husband and wife team Phillips Smalley
and Lois Weber
, who also play the lead roles. It was made in Hollywood under the working title Is a Woman a Person?
The plot follows the careers of a husband and wife pair of activists campaigning for sex education and family planning. The events in the film were largely inspired by the trial of Margaret Sanger
.
The film was an unofficial sequel to Where Are My Children?
, a 1916 film by the same team, and has been classified as a lost film
. It was not a commercial success upon its release, and Ms. Weber later claimed to be unhappy with the finished product.
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
silent film
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...
released in 1917. It was written, produced and directed by the husband and wife team Phillips Smalley
Phillips Smalley
Wendell 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...
and Lois Weber
Lois Weber
Lois Weber was an American silent film actress, screenwriter, producer, and director, who is considered "the most important female director the American film industry has known", and "one of the most important and important and prolific film directors in the era of silent films". Film historian...
, who also play the lead roles. It was made in Hollywood under the working title Is a Woman a Person?
The plot follows the careers of a husband and wife pair of activists campaigning for sex education and family planning. The events in the film were largely inspired by the trial of Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
.
The film was an unofficial sequel to Where Are My Children?
Where Are My Children?
Where Are My Children? is a 1916 film in which a district attorney, while prosecuting a doctor for illegal abortions, finds out that society people, including his wife, used the doctor's services. It stars Tyrone Power, Sr., Juan de la Cruz, Helen Riaume, William Haben and C...
, a 1916 film by the same team, and has been classified as a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
. It was not a commercial success upon its release, and Ms. Weber later claimed to be unhappy with the finished product.