The Deemster

The Deemster (1917)

Daniel Mylrea is the son of the Bishop of Man, the baron of the Isle of Man, whose temporal power is higher even than that of the Deemster, or governor. The Bishop desires Dan to become a minister, but he prefers to be a fisherman. The Deemster of Man has a son and a daughter, Mona and Ewan. Dan and Mona are in love. She consents to marry him when he can obtain her father's consent. Ewan, her brother, decides to become a clergyman, even in the face of his father's insistence that he take up business as a vocation. The Deemster opposes Dan's suit for Mona's hand because he has fallen from his high estate as the son of the Bishop by becoming a fisherman.

Date of release
1917-04-15
Runtime
1h 30m
Genres
Drama
Director
Howell Hansel

Casting

Interesting facts

The Deemster is a 1917 American silent drama film, released by Arrow Film Corporation, directed by Howell Hansel, starring Derwent Hall Caine and Marian Swayne.

Production background

Originally entitled The Bishop’s Son the film was announced by the Arrow Film Company as the first of their series of special seven and eight reel productions. It is based on Hall Caine’s 1887 novel The Deemster and his 1910 stage adaptation of the novel The Bishop’s Son in which his son Derwent Hall Caine produced and played the same role as in the film.

The costumes are identical with those used in the London stage production. They were brought from England by Derwent Hall Caine.

Over 100,000 feet of negative was shot on location at Block Island, Rhode Island and at Arrow’s studio at Yonkers.

Hall Caine remained in London, England during the First World War so when he granted exclusive film rights on his novel The Deemster negotiations were carried out by Derwent Hall Caine as W. E. Shallenberger had business commitments that prevented him from travelling to meet with Hall Caine. Arrow sent a representative to the Isle of Man to take many photos of the locations of the story under Hall Caine’s personal direction.

Carpenters and masons were sent to Block Island and built the replica of a Manx village, following the plans and specifications faithfully. Hall Caine had trained as an architect prior to becoming a writer. The houses built for the film were constructed of stone and concrete throughout, and were afterwards sold to the island’s inhabitants. The interior shots were taken in the houses and not in a studio.

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