The Nightingale

The Nightingale (1914)

Franti, an organ grinder of the poor districts of New York, has a daughter, Isola, who sings to his street piano's accompaniment.

Date of release
1914-10-05
Runtime
50m
Genres
Drama, Crime
Director
Augustus E. Thomas

Casting

Interesting facts

The Nightingale, a 1914 American silent drama film directed and written by Augustus Thomas, which Alco Film Corporation released. Ethel Barrymore makes her acting debut in this feature film, which Thomas wrote specifically for her. Thomas, famed as a Broadway playwright, was the best friend of Barrymore's father Maurice, and had known the actress since she was a child. As with many of Barrymore's films to come, the advertising for this film says the film is told in 'acts' as with a stage play, an effort to remind the audience of the star's status and preference for the legitimate stage. This film was long thought to be lost.

Production

The story of this film is similar to Clyde Fitch's 1901 play Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, in which Barrymore became a star playing an Italian opera singer. Fitch had died in 1909, and Charles Frohman, Barrymore's theatrical employer, owned the rights to Captain Jinks. Augustus Thomas, a Barrymore family friend and author, fashioned a similar story for Barrymore, enticing her to make a film with material she was familiar with.

A screen version of Fitch's Captain Jinks was later made with Ann Murdock.

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

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