The White Shadow (film)
The White Shadow | |
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![]() 1924 American advertisement | |
Directed by | Graham Cutts Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited) |
Written by | Graham Cutts Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited) Michael Morton (novel Children of Chance) |
Produced by | Michael Balcon Victor Saville |
Starring | Betty Compson Clive Brook Henry Victor A. B. Imeson |
Cinematography | Claude L. McDonnell |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Woolf & Freedman Film Service |
Release date | August 1923 (UK) 13 October 1924 (US) |
Running time | 82 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The White Shadow, also known as White Shadows in the United States, is a 1923 British drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Betty Compson, Clive Brook, and Henry Victor.[1]
Plot[]
The plot concerns twin sisters, one who is modest and socially conservative, the other a free spirit who cannot bear the constrictions of a traditional life. Their father's unhappiness over his bohemian daughter's lifestyle leads him to drink and dissolution. The sisters end up having the same man, Robin, in love with them, without him realizing they are two different people. The extant film ends at a most critical juncture, at which both sisters, Robin, and the father meet at a Paris boîte and are about to realize who each other is. There are several multiple exposures when the two sisters, both played by Betty Compson are on screen at once, which are skillfully done.[2]
Cast[]
- Betty Compson as Nancy Brent / Georgina Brent
- Clive Brook as Robin Field
- Henry Victor as Louis Chadwick
- A. B. Imeson as Mr. Brent
- Olaf Hytten as Herbert Barnes
- Daisy Campbell as Elizabeth Brent
Production[]
The film is based on the unpublished novel Children of Chance by Michael Morton. Alfred Hitchcock collaborated with Cutts on the film. Cutts and Hitchcock made the film quickly, as they wanted to make use of Betty Compson, who had appeared in their hit Woman to Woman (also 1923), before she returned to the United States.[3]
The film was made at the Gainsborough Pictures studio in Hoxton, London.[4]
Writing about the film in 1969, producer Michael Balcon said:
"Engrossed in our first production [Woman to Woman], we had made no preparations for the second. Caught on the hop, we rushed into production with a story called The White Shadow. It was as big a flop as Woman to Woman had been a success."[5]
Preservation status[]
Long thought to have been a completely lost film, in August 2011 the National Film Preservation Foundation announced that the first three reels of the six-reel picture had been found in the New Zealand Film Archive. The film had been kept by collector Jack Murtagh for many years and had been donated to the archive after his death in 1989. One film can was mislabeled Two Sisters, while the other simply stated Unidentified American Film. Only later were they identified.[6] Under the auspices of the NFPF, the film was preserved by the New Zealand Film Archive and the Academy Film Archive in 2012.[7] The following year it was released on DVD by RLJE Films.[8]
Bibliography[]
- Rachael Low: The History of British Film: Volume IV, 1918–1929 (Routledge, 1997)
References[]
- ^ "The White Shadow". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 14 January 2009. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ "Rare Alfred Hitchcock film footage uncovered". BBC News. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ Low p.135
- ^ "The White Shadow". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan [pg 754]
- ^ Zafar, Aylin (23 September 2011). "Lost for 80 years, Alfred Hitchcock's Earliest Known Film Makes Its Debut". Time. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
- ^ "Alfred Hitchcock Collectors' Guide: The White Shadow (1923)". Brenton Film.
External links[]
- 1923 films
- 1923 drama films
- British films
- British black-and-white films
- Films directed by Graham Cutts
- British silent feature films
- British films based on plays
- Films directed by Alfred Hitchcock
- British drama films
- 1920s rediscovered films
- Films produced by Victor Saville
- Films about twin sisters
- Rediscovered British films