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The Merry Widow (1925 film)
Encyclopedia
The Merry Widow is a 1925 American silent MGM romantic drama film and black comedy
directed and written by Erich von Stroheim
. The film stars Mae Murray
, John Gilbert
and Roy D'Arcy
.
Joan Crawford
and Clark Gable
had uncredited roles in the film.
at the end, the Technicolor sequence is lost. The rest of this movie still survives.
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
directed and written by Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim
Erich von Stroheim was an Austrian-born film star of the silent era, subsequently noted as an auteur for his directorial work.-Background:...
. The film stars Mae Murray
Mae Murray
Mae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
, John Gilbert
John 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...
and 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...
.
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
had uncredited roles in the film.
Color
This movie had a color sequence by TechnicolorTechnicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
at the end, the Technicolor sequence is lost. The rest of this movie still survives.
Cast
- Mae MurrayMae MurrayMae Murray was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "The Gardenia of the Screen"....
... Sally O'Hara - 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...
... Prince Danilo Petrovich - Roy D'ArcyRoy D'ArcyRoy 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...
... Crown Prince Mirko - Josephine CrowellJosephine CrowellJosephine Crowell was a Canadian film actress of the silent film era. She appeared in 94 films between 1912 and 1929....
... Queen Milena - George FawcettGeorge FawcettGeorge Fawcett was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. On stage he appeared in such plays as Ghosts with the controversial Mary Shaw, The Squaw Man with William Faversham, The Great John Ganton with an up-and-coming actress Laurette Taylor in the cast and Getting A Polish with...
... King Nikita I - Tully MarshallTully MarshallWilliam Phillips was an American character actor known as Tully Marshall, with nearly a quarter century of theatrical experience behind before he made his first film appearance in 1914.-Career:...
... Baron Sixtus Sadoja - Edward ConnellyEdward ConnellyEdward Connelly was an American stage and film actor of the silent era. He had a long established Broadway theatre career going back to the Victorian era...
... Baron Popoff (ambassador)
Uncredited
Selected cast that were uncredited:- Helen Howard Beaumont.. Chorus girl
- Gertrude Bennett.. Hard-Boiled Virginia
- Bernard Berger.. Boy
- Sidney BraceySidney BraceySidney Bracey was an Australian-born American film actor. After a stage career in Australia, on Broadway and in Britain, he appeared in 321 films between 1909 and 1942.-Life and career:...
... Danilo's footman - Estelle Clark ... French barber
- Albert Conti ... Danilo's adjutant
- D'Arcy CorriganD'Arcy CorriganD'Arcy Corrigan was an Irish-born lawyer who became a character actor, playing some 49 film roles, typically very brief but impressive, such as his ominously silent, darkly shrouded Ghost of Christmas Future in the popular 1938 version of the film A Christmas Carol...
... Horatio - Joan CrawfordJoan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
... Extra - Xavier CugatXavier CugatXavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
... Orchestra leader - Anielka ElterAnielka ElterAnielka Elter was a Czechoslovakian motion picture actress who made films in Berlin, Germany and Hollywood.Elter was a film star in Berlin before arriving in America from Poland. She had her first success in America with The Merry Widow . She had an uncredited role as a blind musician...
... Blindfolded musician - Dale FullerDale Fuller (actor)Dale Fuller was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 67 films between 1915 and 1935.She was born in Santa Ana, California and died in Los Angeles County, California.-Selected filmography:...
... Sadoja's chambermaid - Clark GableClark GableWilliam Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
... Ballroom dancing extra