The Prodigal Son is a 1923 British silenthistorical film directed by A. E. Coleby and starring Stewart Rome, Henry Victor and Edith Bishop. The film is an adaptation of Hall Caine's 1904 novel The Prodigal Son, set in Iceland and the French Riviera. It was noted as a long film, reported variously at three[2] or over four hours.[3] The film's original release length as 18,454 feet made it the longest commercially made British film.[4] It was shown in two consecutive parts, the second part being entitled The Return of the Prodigal.[5]
It was shot on location in Iceland, with a final budget of £37,000.[6] The film was not a commercial success on its release, and was attacked by critics. It was perhaps the biggest failure of all the films released by Stoll Pictures, the largest British film company of the early 1920s.[7] However, the film was re-released in 1929 with a greatly reduced running time.[8]
A marriage is arranged between Magnus Stephenson, son of the Governor of Iceland, and Thora Neilsen, daughter of "the Factor"; but the prospective bridegroom, discovering that Thora loves his brother, Oscar, a budding musician, blackens his own name at the betrothal ceremony by declaring the marriage contract not good enough. Outcast by his family for this apparent dishonour, Magnus paved the way for his younger brother Oscar to marry Thora. Troubles soon arise. Oscar becomes attracted to Helga, his wife's sister, who accompanies the newlywed couple on their honeymoon, and forges his father's signature for a large sum of money to pay his gambling debts at the Casino. Helga's announcement to her sister before the birth of Thora's baby, that Oscar does not love his wife, brings on an illness with homicidal tendencies. Against the wishes of Magnus, who tries prevent it, the baby, Elin, is taken away from the mother, who struggles leave the house to bring the child back and dies in the attempt. Oscar, overcome with remorse, places all his musical compositions on his wife's dead body to be buried with her.
prodigal, 1923, film, prodigal, 1923, british, silent, historical, film, directed, coleby, starring, stewart, rome, henry, victor, edith, bishop, film, adaptation, hall, caine, 1904, novel, prodigal, iceland, french, riviera, noted, long, film, reported, vario. The Prodigal Son is a 1923 British silent historical film directed by A E Coleby and starring Stewart Rome Henry Victor and Edith Bishop The film is an adaptation of Hall Caine s 1904 novel The Prodigal Son set in Iceland and the French Riviera It was noted as a long film reported variously at three 2 or over four hours 3 The film s original release length as 18 454 feet made it the longest commercially made British film 4 It was shown in two consecutive parts the second part being entitled The Return of the Prodigal 5 The Prodigal SonDirected byA E ColebyWritten byA E ColebyBased onThe Prodigal Sonby Hall CaineStarringStewart Rome Henry Victor Edith BishopCinematographyD P CooperProductioncompanyStoll PicturesDistributed byStoll PicturesRelease dateFebruary 1923 1923 02 Running time280 minutes 1 CountryUnited KingdomLanguagesSilent English intertitles It was shot on location in Iceland with a final budget of 37 000 6 The film was not a commercial success on its release and was attacked by critics It was perhaps the biggest failure of all the films released by Stoll Pictures the largest British film company of the early 1920s 7 However the film was re released in 1929 with a greatly reduced running time 8 Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External linksPlot editA marriage is arranged between Magnus Stephenson son of the Governor of Iceland and Thora Neilsen daughter of the Factor but the prospective bridegroom discovering that Thora loves his brother Oscar a budding musician blackens his own name at the betrothal ceremony by declaring the marriage contract not good enough Outcast by his family for this apparent dishonour Magnus paved the way for his younger brother Oscar to marry Thora Troubles soon arise Oscar becomes attracted to Helga his wife s sister who accompanies the newlywed couple on their honeymoon and forges his father s signature for a large sum of money to pay his gambling debts at the Casino Helga s announcement to her sister before the birth of Thora s baby that Oscar does not love his wife brings on an illness with homicidal tendencies Against the wishes of Magnus who tries prevent it the baby Elin is taken away from the mother who struggles leave the house to bring the child back and dies in the attempt Oscar overcome with remorse places all his musical compositions on his wife s dead body to be buried with her Cast editStewart Rome as Magnus Stephenson Henry Victor as Oscar Stephenson Edith Bishop as Helga Neilson Colette Brettel as Thora Neilson Elin Adeline Hayden Coffin as Anna Stephenson Frank Wilson as Stephen Stephenson Henry Nicholls Bates as Oscar Neilson Louise Conti as Aunt Margaret Peter Upcher as Nils Finsen Sam Austin as CaptainReferences edit Robertson p 35 Oakley p 81 Low p 127 Robertson p 35 Gifford entry 07626 Low p 276 Oakley p 80 81 Low p 431Bibliography editLow Rachael History of the British Film 1918 1929 George Allen amp Unwin 1971 Gifford Denis The British Film Catalogue 1895 1970 McGraw Hill 1973 Oakley Charles Where We Came In Seventy Years of the British Film Industry Routledge 2013 Robertson Patrick Movie Facts and Feats A Guinness Record Book Sterling Pub Co Inc 1985 ISBN 978 0 85112 278 6 External links editThe Prodigal Son at IMDb nbsp nbsp This article related to a British film of the 1920s is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Prodigal Son 1923 film amp oldid 1222638467, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
