Flora Zabelle Movies

Better known in 1916 for light comedy rather than heavy drama, John Barrymore effortlessly breezed through the four reels of Famous Players' The Red Widow. Even Barrymore's character name -- Cicero Hannibal Butts -- was conceived to induce loud laughter. While embarking on his honeymoon, Butts receives all sorts of portents of bad luck, beginning with an upside-down horseshoe. He'd been warned not to marry a widow, and now Butts seems to be paying dearly for his marital misstep. But after several slapsticky situations -- not the least of which involves a gang of Russian Nihilists -- our hero is at last able to settle down for some well-deserved connubial bliss. The Red Widow was based on a stage play by Channing Pollock and Rennold Wolf. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi