The First Born
Encyclopedia
The First Born is a British silent film
drama, directed by Miles Mander
for Gainsborough Pictures
and starring Mander and Madeleine Carroll
.
. The First Born enjoys a good critical reputation, being seen as stylistically inventive and one of the best examples of a trend in British cinema in the last years of the silent era towards a more mature, sophisticated and naturalistic presentation of dramatic material, eschewing the tendency in earlier silent films towards overly stagey and melodramatic acting styles involving wildly exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.
). She rebuffs his advances, but finds him sympathetic as an individual and agrees that they should remain friends.
Madeleine learns that her manicurist is expecting a baby and is in a desperate state as she is unmarried and facing shame, the loss of her job and destitution. Madeleine offers to adopt the baby when it is born, which the manicurist gladly accepts. Hugo later returns from Africa and is delighted with the new son and heir which he assumes is his. Relations between the couple improve for a time, and Madeleine gives birth to her own baby. Hugo makes progress in his political ambitions and is invited to stand for parliament in an upcoming General Election. His political associates and potential constituents are charmed by Madeleine. It has not taken long however for him to revert to his womanising ways, and he becomes involved with the devious Nina (Ella Atherton).
As the election approaches, Hugo finds out that the older boy is adopted, not his own child. He and Madeline have a furious argument and he leaves to stay with Nina. On election night he is in a state of tension. He now quarrels with Nina also, stomps out of her apartment in a temper, and in a moment of inattention steps into an empty liftshaft and falls to his death. After his death, Madeleine receives a letter from the manicurist who has met a man who is willing to take on her and her son, she also unknowingly reveals in an ironic twist that Hugo was actually Stephen's father. In the wake of Hugo's death and the new revelations, Maddie resolves to rekindle her romance with Lord David in the hope that she can finally find happiness.
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, directed by Miles Mander
Miles Mander
Miles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent...
for Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures
Gainsborough Pictures was a British film studio based on the south bank of the Regent's Canal, in Poole Street, Hoxton in the former Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, London. Gainsborough Studios were active between 1924 and 1951. Built as a power station for the Great Northern & City Railway it...
and starring Mander and Madeleine Carroll
Madeleine Carroll
Edith Madeleine Carroll was an English actress, popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:Carroll was born at 32 Herbert Street in West Bromwich, England. She graduated from the University of Birmingham, England with a B.A. degree...
.
Production background
The screenplay was also written by Mander in conjunction with Alma RevilleAlma Reville
Alma Reville, Lady Hitchcock was an English assistant director, screenwriter and editor. She was the second daughter of Edward and Lucy Reville....
. The First Born enjoys a good critical reputation, being seen as stylistically inventive and one of the best examples of a trend in British cinema in the last years of the silent era towards a more mature, sophisticated and naturalistic presentation of dramatic material, eschewing the tendency in earlier silent films towards overly stagey and melodramatic acting styles involving wildly exaggerated gestures and facial expressions.
Plot
Would-be politician Sir Hugo Boycott (Mander) and his wife Madeleine (Carroll) have an unhappy marriage. Madeleine is aware that Hugo is a serial philanderer, and their problems are exacerbated when she fails to produce the heir he wants. After a particularly serious quarrel, Hugo storms off to North Africa and one of his mistresses. In his absence, Madeleine drifts around in London society where she is courted by Lord David Harbrough (John LoderJohn Loder (actor)
John Loder was a British-American actor. He was born William John Muir Lowe in London.-Early life:Loder's father was General W. H. M. Lowe, the British officer to whom Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, surrendered...
). She rebuffs his advances, but finds him sympathetic as an individual and agrees that they should remain friends.
Madeleine learns that her manicurist is expecting a baby and is in a desperate state as she is unmarried and facing shame, the loss of her job and destitution. Madeleine offers to adopt the baby when it is born, which the manicurist gladly accepts. Hugo later returns from Africa and is delighted with the new son and heir which he assumes is his. Relations between the couple improve for a time, and Madeleine gives birth to her own baby. Hugo makes progress in his political ambitions and is invited to stand for parliament in an upcoming General Election. His political associates and potential constituents are charmed by Madeleine. It has not taken long however for him to revert to his womanising ways, and he becomes involved with the devious Nina (Ella Atherton).
As the election approaches, Hugo finds out that the older boy is adopted, not his own child. He and Madeline have a furious argument and he leaves to stay with Nina. On election night he is in a state of tension. He now quarrels with Nina also, stomps out of her apartment in a temper, and in a moment of inattention steps into an empty liftshaft and falls to his death. After his death, Madeleine receives a letter from the manicurist who has met a man who is willing to take on her and her son, she also unknowingly reveals in an ironic twist that Hugo was actually Stephen's father. In the wake of Hugo's death and the new revelations, Maddie resolves to rekindle her romance with Lord David in the hope that she can finally find happiness.
Cast
- Madeleine CarrollMadeleine CarrollEdith Madeleine Carroll was an English actress, popular in the 1930s and 1940s.-Early life:Carroll was born at 32 Herbert Street in West Bromwich, England. She graduated from the University of Birmingham, England with a B.A. degree...
as Lady Madeleine Boycott - Miles ManderMiles ManderMiles Mander , born Lionel Henry Mander , was a well-known and versatile English character actor of the early Hollywood cinema, also a film director and producer, and a playwright and novelist.-Early life:Miles Mander was the second son of Theodore Mander, builder of Wightwick Manor, of the prominent...
as Sir Hugo Boycott - John LoderJohn Loder (actor)John Loder was a British-American actor. He was born William John Muir Lowe in London.-Early life:Loder's father was General W. H. M. Lowe, the British officer to whom Patrick Pearse, the leader of the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin, Ireland, surrendered...
as Lord David Harbrough - Ella Atherton as Nina de Lande
- Margot Armand as Sylvia Findlay
- Ivo Dawson as Derek Findlay
- Marjorie Roach as Phoebe Chivers
- John St. John as Dicky
- Naomi Jacobs as Dot
- Bernard Vaughan as Butler
- Walter Wichelow as Impitt
- Theodore Mander as Stephen Boycott