The Actress is a 1928

1928 in film

-Events:Although some movies released in 1928 had sound, most were still silent.* July 28 - Lights of New York is released by Warner Brothers. It is the first "100% Talkie" feature film, in that dialog is spoken throughout the film...

 silent

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 produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Sidney Franklin

Sidney Franklin (director)

Sidney Franklin was an American film director and producer. His brother Chester Franklin also became a director during the silent film era best known for helming the early Technicolor film Toll of the Sea....

 and starred Norma Shearer

Norma Shearer

Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...

.

This film is based on the Arthur Wing Pinero

Arthur Wing Pinero

Sir Arthur Wing Pinero was an English actor and later an important dramatist and stage director.-Biography:...

 play Trelawny of the 'Wells'

Trelawny of the 'Wells'

Trelawny of the 'Wells' is an 1898 comic play by Arthur Wing Pinero. It tells the story of a theatre star who attempts to give up the stage for love, but is unable to fit into conventional society.-Synopsis:...

that had first premiered on Broadway in 1898 starring Mary Mannering

Mary Mannering

Mary Mannering was an Anglo-American actress, born in London. She studied for the stage under Hermann Vezin. She made her debut at Manchester in 1892 under her own name of Florence Friend....

, which was revived by Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore

Ethel Barrymore was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors.-Early life:Ethel Barrymore was born Ethel Mae Blythe in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second child of the actors Maurice Barrymore and Georgiana Drew...

 in 1911, an aging Laurette Taylor

Laurette Taylor

Laurette Taylor was an American stage and silent film actress.-Personal life:Laurette Taylor was born in New York City of Irish extraction as Loretta Helen Cooney.-Personal life:...

 in 1925, and at the time this film was produced (1927) by Helen Gahagan

Helen Gahagan

Helen Gahagan was an American actress and politician. She was the third woman and first Democratic woman elected to Congress from California; her election made California one of the first two states to have elected female members of the House from both parties.-Early life and acting...

. The story is only distantly related to the 1953 Jean Simmons

Jean Simmons

Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...

 film The Actress

The Actress

The Actress is an 1953 American comedy-drama film based on Ruth Gordon's autobiographical play Years Ago. Gordon herself wrote the screenplay. The film was directed by George Cukor and stars Jean Simmons, Spencer Tracy, Teresa Wright, and Anthony Perkins in his film debut.The film was nominated for...

 which was updated by actress Ruth Gordon

Ruth Gordon

Ruth Gordon Jones , better known as Ruth Gordon, was an American actress and writer. She was perhaps best known for her film roles such as Minnie Castevet, Rosemary's overly solicitous neighbor in Rosemary's Baby, as the eccentric Maude in Harold and Maude and as the mother of Orville Boggs in the...

. The play was first brought to the silver screen as a silent film Trelawny of the Wells

Trelawny of the Wells (film)

Trelawny of the Wells is a 1916 British silent romance film directed by Cecil Hepworth and starring Alma Taylor, Stewart Rome and Violet Hopson. It is an adaptation of the 1898 play Trelawny of the Wells by Arthur Wing Pinero...

in 1916.

Judging by several stills that survive and a lobby poster, the play's storyline was a nice film subject. Regrettably this film is one of many 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...

s from the 1920s.

Cast

• Norma Shearer
  Norma Shearer
  Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
  
   as Rose Trelawny
• Owen Moore
  Owen Moore
  Owen Moore was an Irish-born actor in American films, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.-Life and career:...
  
   as Tom Wrench
• Gwen Lee
  Gwen Lee
  Gwen Lee was an American film actress from Hastings, Nebraska. Her given name was Gwendolyn Lepinski.-Acting career:...
  
   as Avonia
• Lee Moran
  Lee Moran
  Lee Moran was an American actor, director and writer. He transcended the silent era of motion pictures to the talkies. Moran appeared in 462 films, directed 109 and wrote for 92 between 1912 and 1935....
  
   as Colpoys
• Roy D'Arcy
  Roy D'Arcy
  Roy D'Arcy was an American film actor of the silent film and early sound period of the 1930s noted for his portrayal of flamboyant villains...
  
   as Gadd
• Virginia Pearson
  Virginia Pearson
  Virginia Belle Pearson was an American stage and film actress. She made fifty-one films in a career which extended from 1910 until 1932.-Career:...
  
   as Mrs. Telfer
• William J. Humphrey
  William J. Humphrey
  William Jonathan Humphrey was an American actor and film director.Born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, William Humphrey was a well-known member of the early stock company of Vitagraph Studios...
  
   as Mr. Telfer
• Effie Ellsler as Mrs. Mossop
• Ralph Forbes
  Ralph Forbes
  rightRalph Forbes was an English actor in the American cinema. He was also a noted stage actor....
  
   as Arthur Gower
• O.P. Heggie
  O.P. Heggie
  O.P. Heggie was an Australian film and theatre actor working in the United States.-Theatre:Before becoming a film actor, he appeared in numerous Broadway-theatre productions in New York City, New York.-Film:...
  
   as Vice-Chancellor Sir William Gower
• Andree Tourneur as Clara de Foenix
• Cyril Chadwick
  Cyril Chadwick
  Cyril Chadwick was an English actor of the silent era. He appeared in 70 films between 1913 and 1938. He was born in Kensington, London.-Selected filmography:*Temple Tower * The Thirteenth Chair...
  
   as Captain de Foenix
• Margaret Seddon
  Margaret Seddon
  Margaret Seddon was an American film actress. She appeared in 104 films between 1915 and 1951. She was born in Washington, D.C...
  
   as Miss Trafalgar Gower

External Links

• The Actress at the Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database
  Internet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
  
  
• The Actress at AllRovi
• lobby poster to the movie
• Lantern slide for the film at the Cleveland Public Library
  Cleveland Public Library
  The Cleveland Public Library was founded in 1869 and is located in Cleveland, Ohio. It operates the Main Library on Superior Avenue in downtown Cleveland, 28 branches throughout the city, a mobile library, a Public Administration Library in City Hall, and a library for the blind and physically...