St. Elmo (1914)

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St. Elmo is a 1914 American silent drama film produced by the Balboa Amusement Producing Company and distributed by William Fox's Box Office Attractions Company. It was the first feature-length film adaptation of Augusta Jane Evans's 1866 novel of the same name. The story follows the life of the title character, who kills his cousin over the love of Agnes, falls from grace, and eventually finds redemption and love with Edna. It is disputed who directed the film; many sources credit Bertram Bracken, while others list St. Elmo as J. Gordon Edwards's directorial debut.

Production

Augusta Jane Evans's 1866 domestic novel St. Elmo was one of the best-selling novels of the 19th century, surpassed at the time only by Uncle Tom's Cabin, and later by Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. With the novel's success came broad cultural impact. Various consumer products, hotels, steamboats, railway carriages, and even several towns were named after the book, and many families named children after its characters.

In 1914, while working for the Balboa Amusement Producing Company, William Jossey wrote the screenplay for the first feature-length film adaptation. Filming took place in Long Beach, California, where the Balboa studios were located. Footage of an actual church under construction across the street from the studio was used for a scene in which one was built by St. Elmo.

Balboa highlighted the film's production value and artistry in its marketing; its film poster advertises "194 gorgeous scenes". However, Balboa was not a film distributor, so in May 1914 they contracted with William Fox's Box Office Attractions Company to have Fox handle the distribution of all Balboa films, beginning with St. Elmo.

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