Nita Naldi Movies
The "female Valentino," as she liked to call herself, Nita Naldi became the most outrageous vamp of the 1920s -- reportedly both on and off the screen. Born Anita Donna Dooley and convent-educated, Naldi took her professional name from a school chum (Mary Rinaldi) and set out to conquer the world of show business with a vengeance. A chorus girl in The Passing Show of 1918 and The Midnight Whirl (1919), Naldi was appearing in Morris Gest's Aphrodite (1919) when approached by John Barrymore, who cast her as Gina in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920). Although Barrymore would later dismiss her as his "dumb Duse," Naldi is surprisingly modern in her flamboyant role as Hyde's would-be seducer and she steals every scene she's in. She was personally selected by famed writer Vicente Blasco-Ibanez (who, Naldi claimed, dropped his dentures down her cleavage while engaged in a tirade against the Catholic church) for the role of the temptress Doña Sol in Blood and Sand (1922), outrageously vamping Rudolph Valentino who seems to be literally energized by her lustful behavior. The florid melodrama became her signature film and was so popular that she was reunited with Valentino twice in A Sainted Devil (1924) and Cobra (1925). Gertrude Olmstead met Naldi while filming the latter and later told the film historian Anthony Slide that the notorious femme fatale was "so sweet to me and so very interesting."Contrary to popular belief, Naldi did not play the native girl in Alfred Hitchcock's directorial debut, The Pleasure Garden (1925), but she did turn up somewhat unexpectedly as the schoolteacher in his second film, The Mountain Eagle (1926), a presumably welcome respite from vamping. A few more European films followed, including Léonce Perret's La Femme Nue (1926), but her type had become an anachronism by then and she wisely retired at the advent of sound. There were brief returns to Broadway -- The Firebird (1932), Queer People (1934) -- and Naldi became one of the former Hollywood luminaries featured at Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe nightclub in the early '40s, where, quite appropriately, she recited Rudyard Kipling's famous poem A Fool There Was backed by a line of chorus boys. Naldi's final public appearance came opposite Uta Hagen in the 1952 stage comedy In Any Language. One of the last of a breed, Naldi brought old-fashioned screen vamping into the more liberated age of the Roaring Twenties, the true heiress to the throne vacated by Theda Bara. But screen vamps rarely took themselves too seriously, she confessed in a later interview. "At least I didn't and I know some of my best friends and rivals didn't either." Spending her final years as a recluse, Nita Naldi died of a heart attack in her room at Manhattan's then-shabby Wentworth Hotel in 1961. Sadly, she had been dead for at least 48 hours when her body was finally discovered. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, Rovi
- 1926
Scheming to steal the jewelry owned by wealthy and beautiful Hope Hampton, villain Holbrook Blinn concocts an elaborate scheme to separate Hampton from her fiance Walter Miller. Once Miller has been lured away by sexy cabaret dancer Nita Naldi, Blinn spirits Hampton off to his apartment and slips her a spiked drink. As our heroine snoozes away, Blinn divests her of her jewels then prepares to have his way with her. But in the nick of time, Miller breaks into the apartment and rescues the girl. Rather than sneer "Curses!", the villain unexpectedly breaks out in laughter, as if he'd expected all along to be caught! This curious ending aside, The Unfair Sex had nothing new to offer to filmgoers of the era. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hope Hampton, Holbrook Blinn, (more)
- 1925
After several collaborative efforts, Alfred Hitchcock made his solo directorial debut in the German-British co-production The Pleasure Garden. Based on the novel by Oliver Sandys, it's the tale of two chorus girls, Patsy (Virginia Valli) and Jill (Carmelita Geraghty). The comparatively virtuous Patsy marries Levett (Miles Mander), the best friend of Jill's fiance Fielding (John Stuart). After the honeymoon, Levett leaves for a job in the tropics, promising to send for Patsy as soon as he's settled. Back in London, Patsy discovers that Jill has been cheating on Fielding with other men. Secure in the belief that her own husband would never betray her, Patsy is shocked to discover that Levett has been sleeping with a native girl (Nita Naldi) in her absence. Driven mad by the treacherous native, Levett kills her and tries to murder Patsy, but she is rescued at the very last minute. Wearily, she comes back to London, where she finally finds happiness with Jill's cast-off sweetheart Fielding. Filmed on a very tight budget, The Pleasure Garden never betrays its parsimonious nature. And though it cannot be labelled a "typical" Hitchcock picture, it contains enough clever pictorial touches to indicate that the man in the director's chair was definitely someone to conjure with. To quote the reviewer of the London Daily Express: "His work is of a uniformly high quality; there are times when it is great, times when the onlooker says to himself 'That is perfect'." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Virginia Valli, Carmelita Geraghty, (more)
- 1925
Corinne Griffith stars in this jazz-age drama, which contains a seemingly endless round of wild parties and bootleg gin. Marian Hale (Griffith) is a refined young lady who has a good friend in Tom Carol (Harrison Ford). She meets Arthur Carrolton (Kenneth Harlan), who has a passion for parties and booze. Even though Marian disapproves of his lifestyle, she comes to love him anyway, and when he promises to reform, they marry. Before long, however, his old pals start coming around and he convinces Marian to have a drink with him. She winds up having several, and when her father (Charles Lane) finds her drunk, the shock kills him. Marian and Carrolton travel to Paris, where they become part of the fast set, and he becomes involved with Toinette, a dancer (Nita Naldi). It all comes to a head when Marian is ill and Carrolton brings Toinette to their apartment. Marian drives the illicit pair from her home and accidentally swallows poison. Carol rescues her and she recovers. When Carrolton and Toinette are conveniently killed in a auto wreck, Marian is able to settle down with Carol. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Corinne Griffith, Kenneth Harlan, (more)
- 1925
Released in Great Britain as The Mountain Eagle, Fear o' God was Alfred Hitchcock's second directorial effort, as well as his second collaboration with Hollywood star Nita Naldi. The story is set in Kentucky, with the Austrian Tyrol incongruously standing in for the Kentucky hills and hollows. Naldi plays a schoolteacher who is caught in the middle of a village feud. Wrongly accused of immorality, the woman is driven into the woods, where she's rescued by mysterious mountain man Fearogod (Malcolm Keen). Screenwriter Elliot Stannard obviously had no idea how Kentuckians acted or behaved, but Hitchcock, despite acute health problems, breathed life into silly goings-on. Despite its flaws, Fear o' God was a hit; more importantly, the film's success allowed Hitchcock to direct a story of his own choosing: The Lodger (1926). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1925
After his impressive screen debut in Sally, stage comedian Leon Errol became a full-fledged film star with this picture, set in New England's colonial days. Tidd (Errol) is a henpecked tailor who secretly dreams of being a pirate. In fact, he even makes himself a pirate costume, which unnerves his wife, Betsy (Dorothy Gish). He winds up hiding in a small boat, where he is found by a rough crew and mistaken for notorious pirate chief Dixie Bull. He is taken on board where he gets to live out his dreams. Betsy and Tidd's niece, Nancy Downs (Edna Murphy), board the Frolic in their search for Tidd, and their vessel gets in a battle with the pirate ship. Tidd wins and demands that the women be handed over -- of course, they are Betsy, Nancy, and a vamp, Madame LaTour (Nita Naldi). Tidd finally comes face-to-face with the real Dixie Bull (Walter Law) and he agrees to a duel. When Bull trips and falls, Tidd leaps on him and declares himself the victor. The truth is he is more than happy to go back to his normal, bland life, with one change -- now he can order his wife around. Dorothy Gish's then-husband, James Rennie, has a supporting role as Nancy's sweetheart. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leon Errol, Dorothy Gish, (more)
- 1925
During a carnival in Venice, Horace Pierpont, a wealthy American (Lewis Stone), falls in love with Fay Kennion (Virgina Valli). Their romance is derailed when she goes over to his apartment and finds the vampy Fifi (Nita Naldi) there. Fay goes down to Algiers, where she marries a former sweetheart, Dr. Alan Mortimer (Edward Earle). Pierpont goes after Fay and when he discovers she has wed, takes a trip with the Mortimers over the desert. Dr. Mortimer is suspicious of the relationship between his wife and the newcomer, and when Pierpont is bitten by a viper, he refuses to treat him if there is a relationship going on. Fay lies so that Mortimer will take care of the wound. Later, she confesses the truth and sends Pierpont away. Eventually Mortimer is killed by an Arab attack, and when Fay runs into Pierpont, he reveals that Fifi was at his apartment that long-ago day to exact revenge. Now that nothing at all stands in their way, the pair reunite. This drama was based on the novel Snake Bite by Robert Hichens, a popular writer of the day. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Lewis Stone, Virginia Valli, (more)
Silent screen idol Rudolph Valentino made his next-to-last screen appearance in this romantic comedy/drama. Count Rodrigo Torriani (Valentino) is a notorious ladies' man who has become the subject of a long list of breach-of-promise suits filed by disappointed former girlfriends, which has left him destitute. Needing to learn a new trade, Rodrigo comes to the U.S., where his knowledge of Italian artifacts is put to good use by Jack Dorning (Casson Ferguson), an antique dealer. While Rodrigo's new trade would presumably put him back on the straight and narrow, such is not the case, as he finds himself the object of two different women's affections -- Mary (Gertrude Olmstead), Jack's secretary, and Elise (Nita Naldi), a wealthy socialite. Cobra reunited Valentino with Nita Naldi, who had starred with him in Blood and Sand and A Sainted Devil; within a year of Cobra's release, Valentino would die unexpectedly, and within three years, Naldi would retire from the screen. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- 1924
There's something very calculated about this Rudolph Valentino vehicle. As he did in Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the star plays an Argentine with a talent for the tango. The production and costuming are elaborate, and the story was based on the Rex Beach novel Rope's End. But none of this can help a weak plot line which is stretched mighty thin to last for nine reels. It is arranged for Don Alonzo de Castro to marry Julietta (Helen D'Algy), who comes from a noble Spanish family. Castro's jealous ex-girlfriend, Carlotta (Nita Naldi), schemes with bandit El Tigre (George Siegmann) to destroy their happiness. On the couple's wedding night, El Tigre stages a raid and kidnaps Julietta. Carlos goes after him, but is enraged when he sees a woman with a bridal veil embracing the bandit. He believes it is Julietta, when it's actually Carlotta. Castro plans revenge on El Tigre. Meanwhile, Julietta escapes to a nunnery with the help of Carmelita, a dancing girl (Louise Lagrange). Although Carmelita loves Castro herself, she eventually reveals Julietta's hiding place and the couple are reunited. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rudolph Valentino, Nita Naldi, (more)
- 1924
Matt Moore stars as Judson Clark, a wealthy but idle young man who is in love with actress Beverly Carlysle (Nita Naldi). Her husband becomes jealous and he winds up in a fight with Clark. A shot rings out and the husband falls dead. Clark believes he is the murderer and dashes out into a snowstorm. He almost dies, but is found by Dr. David Livingstone (George Fawcett). The doctor takes care of Clark, but though he recovers physically, he has lost his memory. Everyone believes that Clark has died, but actually he is studying to be a physician. Ten years pass and Beverly comes through town with a show. In the audience she sees Clark, and Louis Bassett (Cyril Ring), an ambitious reporter, reopens the long-forgotten murder case. When Clark goes to the scene of the crime, his memory of his prior life returns, but he forgets his present one, including his engagement to Elizabeth Wheeler (Patsy Ruth Miller). When Dr. Livingstone falls ill, however, Clark rushes to his side, and all his memories return. Just as he is about to give himself up for the murder he believed he committed, Bassett discovers the real killer. Clark is left free to marry Elizabeth. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nita Naldi, Patsy Ruth Miller, (more)
- 1923
The premise is clichéd -- it's the usual tale of a pretty girl from the sticks trying to break into movies -- but this satire gives it a number of unexpected turns. In addition, just about every star in Hollywood -- not just those at Paramount, the releasing studio -- has a cameo at one point or another during the film's eight reels. Ironically, nearly all of the lead actors are unknowns (although George K. Arthur would become a noted character comedian). Angela Whitaker (Hope Brown) of Centreville is convinced she has a chance in Hollywood -- all her friends tell her so. So she heads West with her Uncle Joel (Luke Cosgrave) in tow. But Angela has no luck in Tinseltown, while her uncle starts landing roles left and right because of his curious image. Eventually the rest of the family, including Angela's sweetheart Lem Lefferts (Arthur), her grandmother (Ruby Lafayette), and her aunt (Eleanor Lawson) come to Hollywood. All Angela's relatives get movie work because they're character types. Finally a screenwriter tries to help Angela out, but Lem winds up landing a role instead. He becomes a star, which suits Angela just fine because she has married him. The couple have twins, and the babies -- not to mention the couple's pet parrot -- wind up in films, while Angela remains at home. The most notable cameo in this picture is Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who had been shunned in motion pictures since the 1921 scandal surrounding a Labor Day party that allegedly resulted in the death of starlet Virginia Rappe. Here he returns as a man standing in a casting line. When it's his turn to come up to the window, it is shut in his face and a "closed" sign put out. Unfortunately this gag turned out to be all too true; Arbuckle was not seen in front of a camera again until 1932. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Luke Cosgrave, George K. Arthur, (more)
- 1923
After a promising start (not to mention a really good cast), this stylish society drama gets bogged down in overwrought melodrama. Powerful Wall Street financier Garth McBride (Lewis Stone) ruins his rival after a tough battle. To celebrate, he goes to Florida with his wife, Edith (Leatrice Joy), and some friends, including Ardrita Saneck (silent screen vamp Nita Naldi). McBride becomes infatuated with Ardrita, which doesn't go by Edith unnoticed. After a confrontation with Edith, McBride takes off for Miami with Ardrita and Edith heads back to New York alone and becomes a nurse. McBride's enemy, determined to get back at him, manipulates the stock market. McBride returns to New York and is attacked by thugs. He is taken to a hospital, which just happens to be run by Ardrita's husband, Dr. Konrad Saneck (Paul McAllister). Dr. Saneck, who has just discovered that his wife has been running around with McBride, prepares to give him an overdose of sedative, and Edith is called in to assist. Luckily for McBride, Ardrita shows up and swears that nothing untoward happened between them. Her husband, either wisely or naïvely, believes her and they reconcile. Edith and McBride reconcile too. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leatrice Joy, Nita Naldi, (more)
- 1923
Cecil B. DeMille's first screen version of The Ten Commandments is only peripherally a Biblical story. The film's first 45 minutes recaps the struggle between Moses (Theodore Roberts) and Rameses (Charles de Roche) over the liberation of the Hebrews. Only after the Lord has imposed a series of plagues upon Egypt does Rameses relent and permit the Exodus to take place--only to go back on his word a few moments later. The scenes of thousands of Hebrews trekking across the desert, the parting of the Red Sea (an effect accomplished in part by splitting a bowl of gelatin down the middle) and the pre-Commandments revelries before the Golden Calf--complete with a fetchingly undressed Estelle Taylor as Miriam--are produced on a spectacular scale...but this is only the beginning. Just as Moses is invoking the Wrath of God upon the ungrateful Hebrews, the film dissolves to the present day (1923, that is). We are introduced to the MacTavish Family: pious, Bible-thumping Martha McTavish (Edythe Chapman) and her sons, straight-arrow John (Richard Dix) and hedonistic Dan (Rod LaRocque). Both sons love Mary Leigh (Leatrice Joy), but the roguish Dan wins out. While John continues honoring the Ten Commandments, Dan breaks as many as he can get his hands on, especially after falling under the spell of Eurasian adventuress Sally Lung (Nita Naldi). Before the uplifting climax, wherein John and Mary finally get together with (it is implied) the blessings of Heaven, we are treated to a series of disastrous plot turns, including the death of mother McTavish in a collapsing church, Sally Lung's revelation that she has leprosy, and a wild speedboat chase. All that's missing is the kitchen sink. Partially filmed in Technicolor at a then-astronomical cost of $1.2 million (a sum that caused a decade-long rift between Cecil B. DeMille and Paramount Pictures), The Ten Commandments grossed several times that amount. DeMille's 1956 Ten Commandments dispenses with the modern story to concentrate on the life of Moses. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Theodore Roberts, Charles de Roche, (more)
- 1923
After Hollywood was rocked by several scandals, the specter of censorship reared its ugly head. To keep local community leaders from doing the censoring, the film industry opted to do the editing itself. Perhaps that's why pictures such as this Allan Dwan-directed society drama based on a novel by Edith Wharton seem a bit bloodless. Although Susan Branch (Bebe Daniels) has lost her money, she still manages to live off her society friends. While staying with Fred and Ursula Gillow (Maurice Costello and Nita Naldi), she falls in love with penniless writer Nick Lansing (David Powell). In spite of his financial situation, Susan and Lansing marry, and live for the next year on money given to them by friends, staying in lavish villas in Paris, Venice, and Monte Carlo. But when the money runs out, so does their happiness. After an argument, they separate, even consulting a lawyer about divorce; but when the lawyer sees that they still love each other, he convinces them to stay together. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bebe Daniels, Nita Naldi, (more)
- 1923
This well-cast drama was based on the play by Samuel Shipman. When Marion Dorsey (Hope Hampton) is away in Europe, her husband Andrew (Conrad Nagel) becomes involved with Vivian Hepburn (Nita Naldi). The scheming Vivian has a partner, Guy Tarlow (Lew Cody), who runs a gambling club and they get Dorsey so far into debt that he is compelled to sign a note with the name of his firm. Because he can't redeem the note, Dorsey faces a prison sentence, but Marion returns home and saves him. By posing as a wealthy widow, she vamps Tarlow and gets him to open up the safe containing the note and the money that her husband lost. Vivian throws a potential jail sentence in Marion's face, pointing that she herself committed "lawful larceny" by stealing Dorsey's love and destroying his honor. But Marion is able to outwit the villainous couple and clear her husband's name. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hope Hampton, Conrad Nagel, (more)
Both animal and human nostrils flare, and passion reigns in this classic romantic tragedy with Rudolph Valentino. Valentino is Juan Gallarde, an aspiring bullfighter, married to his loving childhood sweetheart Carmen (Lila Lee). But as his fame rises as a matador, so does his hot Spanish blood, and he succumbs to the passionate embraces of the sultry Doña Sol (Nita Naldi). When Juan is gored by a bull, his bullfighting fame is cut short, and Carmen returns to his side to nurse him back to health, and, as he struggles to regain his strength and make a comeback in the bullring, Carmen is there for him. At last he returns to the bullring, but in the stands, Juan sees Doña Sol with another lover. His attention distracted, a furious bull charges him and he is killed, dying in the arms of Carmen. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rudolph Valentino, Lila Lee, (more)
- 1922
Victor Fleming was still a relatively new director when he helmed this melodrama, an adaptation of the stage play by Harry Chapman Ford. Alice Brady starred on Broadway, and she stars here, too, as Anna Ayyob, a Syrian immigrant living in New York and working at a coffee house owned by Siad Coury (Edouard Durand). The place is really a front for a group of smugglers. This information filters down to Howard Fisk (Robert Ellis), the reporter son of a newspaper publisher. He earns Anna's trust, but just when she is about to tell Fisk what she knows, she is attacked by a member of the gang known as the Baron (David Powell). They struggle and Anna thinks she has killed him. She goes into hiding and three years later reemerges as the anonymous author of a best seller called Anna Ascends. Howard's father (Frederick Burton) assigns him the duty of tracking down the writer and interviewing her. So he and Anna are reunited once again. It turns out that the Baron didn't actually die, and the smugglers are eventually rounded up. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Alice Brady, Robert Ellis, (more)
- 1922
This comedy was a satire on serious melodrama, and ex-Mack Sennett director Henry Lehrman gave it as many thrills as it had laughs. Less successfully, it featured titles by several newspaper columnists, who proved they were wittier on paper than they were on screen. Owen Moore (who, aside from being Mary Pickford's first husband, was an accomplished farceur) plays Richard Boyd, a wealthy idler so cool that he never loses his top hat throughout the film. It even stays on his head when his fiancee, Pauline Blake (Pauline Garon), insists that he go to work or she will leave him. The Boyd Company, which he inherited, has an option on a fleet of ships, and he decides to pick it up. But Young, an Oriental merchant prince (Togo Yamamoto) wants the fleet himself, and he orders his confederates to shanghai Boyd until the option runs out. Since Pauline refuses to leave Boyd's side, she's kidnapped too. The ship wrecks and Pauline winds up hidden away in Young's expansive villa. Boyd chases Young's motor boat with a hydroplane, and with the help of some sailors, rescues Pauline. Boyd makes the option and wins his girl's devotion. One embarrassing aspect of this film -- at least to modern eyes -- is the blackface performance Tom Wilson as Boyd's valet, Sam. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Owen Moore, Pauline Garon, (more)
Legendary escape artist Harry Houdini both produced and starred in The Man From Beyond. Houdini plays a man who has been frozen in an Arctic block of ice for 100 years. Once he's thawed out, Houdini tries to straighten out the lives of the descendants of his old friends and lost loves. The sequence everyone remembers from Man From Beyond involves Houdini's near-plunge over Niagara Falls, which has been excerpted in several silent-film pastiches, notably 1961's Days of Thrills and Laughter. Question: If we know Houdini's prowess for wriggling out of straitjackets, prison cells etc., how can there be the least bit of suspense in Man From Beyond? Never mind: you'll want to see it anyway, just for the chance to glimpse the great Houdini in action. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arthur Maude, Albert Tavernier, (more)
- 1921
In spite of the fact that George V. Hobart's play was merely a trite and overdone story parading as a moralistic allegory, it made loads of money. When it was finally made into a film, it became even more preachy and self-important. Youth (Richard Barthelmess) meets Ambition (E.J. Ratcliffe) and leaves Love (Marjorie Daw), his mother, and his small-town roots for the big city. There, in his search for Experience (John Miltern), he meets Pleasure (Lilyan Tashman) and hangs out at the Primrose Path with the likes of Temptation (Nita Naldi) and Intoxication (Helen Ray). Back home, Youth's mother dies, and Love tries unsuccessfully to reach him. When Youth's money runs out his newfound friends all leave him and he sinks into a life of drug addiction, aided by Habit (Agnes Marc). As he is about to rob the home of Wealth (Charles Stevenson), he hears a church choir and comes to his senses. Accompanied by Experience he returns home, where he starts life over again with Love. Thankfully, allegories -- which were very popular in the 1910s -- pretty much had died out by the early '20s. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Richard Barthelmess, John Miltern, (more)
- 1920
Bill Reid (Jack Mower) finishes college at the head of his class and goes to work at a bank headed by William Stuyvesant (J.H. Gilmore). The banker's daughter, Ruth (Arline Pretty), is in love with Reid, but one of the other employees, Tom Burnett (Rod LaRocque), wants her for himself. He passes his old girlfriend, Grace Andrews (Nita Naldi), off to Stuyvesant's son, Ralph (Leeward Meeker), who promptly puts her up in style in a pricey Riverside Drive apartment. When Ralph forges his father's name on a check, Burnett tries to pin the deed on Reid. Then he kills Stuyvesant and has Reid convicted of the crime. Ruth, who has married Reid, convinces the detective that her husband is innocent. She helps him escape from Sing Sing on the morning he is to be executed. Burnett, meanwhile, has discovered that the murder was seen by Dutch Joe, and kills him, too. The detective is able to gather enough evidence to prove that Burnett is a murderer and he and Ruth go in search of Reid. They find him out West in the desert, half-dead from exposure. He is rescued, and he and Ruth look forward to a happier future. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hubert Druce, Nita Naldi, (more)
In 1920, filmgoers were treated to no fewer than two different film versions of Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In this one, John Barrymore plays the humanitarian Dr. Henry Jekyll, who becomes obsessed with the notion of separating the good and evil impulses within every man. To this end, he develops a potion which unleashes his own darker side: the demonic Mr. Hyde. This was the adaptation which established the cliché of having both a "good" and "bad" leading lady, to parallel the doppelganger aspects of the Jekyll/Hyde personality. Martha Mansfield is the good girl, while Nita Naldi, wearing costumes that were daring indeed in 1920, is the bad one. The adaptors also borrowed the character of Lord Henry from Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray in order to provide Jekyll with an evil mentor/blackmailer. Sadly, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde proved to be one of the last starring films for leading lady Martha Mansfield: she died horribly during filming of The Warrens of Virginia (1924) when her costume touched a discarded match and burst into flame. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Barrymore, Martha Mansfield, (more)
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