Arizona

Arizona (1918)

A lost film. An Army lieutenant at a remote post in Arizona tells a young woman that he does not love her, so she contrives to marry his commanding officer, who is also his best friend.

Date of release
1918-12-09
Runtime
50m
Genres
Romance, Comedy, Drama
Director
Douglas Fairbanks, Albert Parker

Casting

Interesting facts

Arizona is a 1918 American silent melodrama film produced by and starring Douglas Fairbanks and released by Famous Players–Lasky under its Artcraft Pictures banner. Based on the successful 1899 play of the same name by Augustus Thomas, the film was directed by Albert Parker.

Production

The source material for the film was the enormously successful play of the same name, first staged in 1899 and credited with launching the trend for Western-themed plays. Some of the cast recruited for the film were also associated with the play: Theodore Roberts originated the role of Canby on the stage; Frank Campeau was well known for portraying Tony.

Allan Dwan had directed Fairbanks in several successful pictures since signing with Fairbanks' studio in 1917; he was slated to direct Arizona as well, but in mid-production Dwan departed the picture and the Fairbanks company. Recently signed by Fairbanks to direct, Albert Parker took over direction of Arizona.

Besides directorial troubles, other issues likely interfered with the production of Arizona. Fairbanks was active in the war effort and production was interrupted by his participation in a Liberty Loan drive that took him to Washington, D.C., New York City, and several cities across the South. The Spanish flu epidemic caused a four-week suspension of production on 60 percent of California films and may also have disrupted Arizona.

This was the first film to use a script supervisor, at the time known as a continuity girl. Sarah Y. Mason invented the craft of film continuity while working for director Albert Parker.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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