The Lady (1925 film)

The Lady
Norma Talmadge and Wallace MacDonald
Directed by	Frank Borzage
Produced by	• Norma Talmadge  • Joseph Schenck
Written by	• Martin Brown (play)  • Frances Marion (scenario)
Starring	• Wallace MacDonald  • Norma Talmadge
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio
Distributed by	First National Pictures
Release dates	• January 25, 1925 (New York City premiere)  • February 8, 1925 (nationwide)
Running time	8 reels; 7,357 feet
Country	United States
Language	Silent film (English-language intertitles)

The Lady is a 1925 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge and directed by Frank Borzage.

Talmadge's own production company produced the film with distribution by First National Pictures.

The film survives in the U.S. Library of Congress with reel 2 missing. The remaining elements of the film have severe beginning stages of nitrate decomposition making much of the film hard to follow.^[1]

Plot

A young woman marries the wastrel son of a British aristocrat. Her husband, who has been disinherited by his father, loses what little money he has left gambling in casinos and then die, leaving her penniless and with an infant son. When her former father-in-law tries to get custody of the child, she leave him with a couple she trusts, but when she later goes to reclaim her son, she can't find the people she left him with.

Origins

Like many of Talmadge's silents of the 1920s The Lady is derived from a stage play. The play, The Lady, ran on Broadway from December 4, 1923 to February 1924 at Charles Frohman's Empire Theatre. It was produced by A. H. Woods. Mary Nash played Talmadge's part of Polly Pearl and Elizabeth Risdon played Fanny Le Clare which in the film was played by Doris Lloyd. Also in the cast was child actor Junior Durkin soon to find bigger fame in films.^[2]

Cast

Norma Talmadge as Polly Pearl Brandon Hurst as St. Aubyns Sr Wallace MacDonald as Leonard St. Aubyns Paulette Duval as Madame Adrienne Catellier Emily Fitzroy as Madame Blanche Johnny Fox (billed as John Fox Jr.) as Freckles Alfred Goulding as Tom Robinson George Hackathorne as Leonard Cairns

John Herdman as John Cairns Ed Hubbell (billed as Edwin Hubbell) as London Boy Doris Lloyd as Fannie St. Clair Walter Long as Blackie Miles McCarthy as Mr. Graves Marc McDermott as Mr. Wendover Margaret Seddon as Mrs. Cairns

See also

• 1925 in film

References

1. Database (undated). "The Lady" silentera.com. Retrieved January 17, 2011.
2. The Lady, Broadway play, IBDb.com database

External links

• The Lady at the American Film Institute Catalog
• The Lady at the Internet Movie Database