The Spreading Dawn is a 1917 silent film drama produced by Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn

Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...

 in his first year of producing independently in his own studio and starring Broadway stage star Jane Cowl

Jane Cowl

Jane Cowl was an American film and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lacrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor.-Biography:...

 in her second and final silent. It was directed by Laurence Trimble

Laurence Trimble

Laurence Trimble was an American silent film actor, writer and director. Trimble began his career as an actor in the 1910 silent Saved by the Flag. He made 100 silent films between 1908 and 1926...

, the then husband of Cowl's stage writing partner Jane Murfin

Jane Murfin

Jane Murfin was an American playwright and screenwriter.Born in Quincy, Michigan, Murfin began her career with the play Lilac Time, which she co-wrote with Jane Cowl. The Broadway production opened on February 6, 1917 and ran for 176 performances...

. The film is lost

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...

.

This film was based on a short fiction The Spreading Dawn by Basil King

Basil King

William Benjamin Basil King was a Canadian-born clergyman who became a writer after retiring from the clergy. His novels and non-fiction were spiritually oriented....

 .

Cast

• Jane Cowl
  Jane Cowl
  Jane Cowl was an American film and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lacrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor.-Biography:...
  
   - Patricia Mercer Vanderpyl
• Orme Caldara - Anthony Vanderpyl
• Harry Spingler - Bentley Vanderpyl (*billed Harry Springer)
• Florence Billings - Mrs. Cornelia Le Roy
• Henry Stephenson
  Henry Stephenson
  Henry Stephenson , sometimes credited as Harry Stephenson, was a British character actor....
  
   - Mr. LeRoy(*billed Harry Stephenson)
• Alice Chapin - Mrs. Mercer
• Helen Blair - Young Lizzie
• Cecil Owen - Colonel Lee
• Mabel Ballin
  Mabel Ballin
  Mabel Ballin was an American motion-picture actress of the silent film era.-Early life and career:Born Mabel Croft in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she originally studied painting. Her landscapes were noticed at an exhibition and led to an offer to appear in films. Ballin appeared in 28 films...
  
   - Georgina Vanderpyl
• Edmund Lowe
  Edmund Lowe
  Edmund Dantes Lowe was an American actor. His formative experience began in vaudeville and silent film. He was born in San Jose, California.-Film career:...
  
  - Captain Lewis Nugent
• Edith McAlpin - Old Lizzie

uncredited

• Antoinette Erwin
• Lettie Ford
• Charles Hammond
• Marion Knapp

External Links

• The Spreading Dawn at IMDB.com
• The Spreading Dawn ; allrovi / synopsis
• lantern slide feature Jane Cowl and Orme Caldara likenesses