Miss Lulu Bett (1921)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

William C. de Mille

Writers:

Clara Beranger (adaptation)
Zona Gale (novel) (play)

Release Date:

November 1921 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Bigamy | Pulitzer Prize Source | Based On Novel | Based On Play

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Lois Wilson	...	Lulu Bett
Milton Sills	...	Neil Cornish
Theodore Roberts	...	Dwight Deacon
Helen Ferguson	...	Diana Deacon
Mabel Van Buren	...	Ina Deacon
Mae Giraci	...	Monona Deacon (as May Giraci)
Clarence Burton	...	Ninian Deacon
Ethel Wales	...	Grandma Bett
Taylor Graves	...	Bobby Larkin
Charles Ogle	...	Station Agent
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Peaches Jackson	...	Child (uncredited)
Carrie Clark Ward	...	Gossip (uncredited)

Directed by
William C. de Mille

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Clara Beranger		adaptation
Zona Gale		novel (play)

Produced by
Adolph Zukor	....	producer

Cinematography by
L. Guy Wilky

Other crew
Adolph Zukor	....	presenter

Production Companies

• Paramount Pictures (as Famous Players-Lasky Corporation)

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1921) (USA) (theatrical) (as Famous Players Lasky Corporation)
• Image Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Unknown Video

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "Miss Lulu Bett" by Zona Gale opened on December 27, 1920 at the Belmont Theater, ran for 198 performances and won the Pulitzer Prize in Drama in 1921.

Quotes:

Mrs. Dwight Deacon: Oh, Dwightie, have I kept you waiting?
Dwight Deacon: After twenty years of being married to you, my darling, I aught to be used to waiting.

The Family Beast of Burden

Lois Wilson (as Lulu) is the spinsterish member of the Deacon family: "The family beast of burden, whose timid soul has failed to break the bonds of family servitude." Her brother-in-law is patriarchal Theodore Roberts (as Dwight Deacon); running the house with an iron fist, he is both a dentist and a Justice of the Peace. As the latter, he accidentally marries Ms. Wilson to his visiting brother Clarence Burton (as Ninian Deacon) while they are out for dinner. Schoolteacher Milton Sills (as Neil Cornish) is also interested in Wilson; though, curiously, nobody seems to notice this for the longest time. Ethel Wales tries, unsuccessfully, to look old enough to play the family grandmother.

Lois Wilson's fine acting ability is clearly evident; at different times, she is like both Lillian Gish and Bette Davis - see, for example the scene where she "lets her hair down" upon meeting Mr. Burton (Gish), and her confrontation, finally, with Mr. Roberts (Davis). The story is ambitious: "Lulu Bett" and the other members of the Deacon household are clearly being controlled by the "Master" Deacon; and, "Lulu" is practically a slave. Yet, the various characters are shells of something larger - and their shells are not filled with enough characterization, background, or motivation to make this movie really work.

Notable as directed by Cecil's brother William deMille.

***** Miss Lulu Bett (1921) William C. de Mille ~ Lois Wilson, Theodore Roberts, Milton Sills