A Chapter in Her Life (1923)

User Rating:

(awaiting 5 votes)

Director:

Lois Weber

Writers:

Clara Louise Burnham (novel)
Doris Schroeder (adaptation)

Release Date:

17 September 1923 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel

Cast

Claude Gillingwater	...	Mr. Everingham
Jane Mercer	...	Jewel
Jacqueline Gadsden	...	Eloise Everingham
Frances Raymond	...	Madge Everingham
Robert Frazer	...	Dr. Ballard
Eva Thatcher	...	Mrs. Forbes
Ralph Yearsley	...	Zeke Forbes
Fred Thomson	...	Nat Bonnell
Beth Rayon	...	Susan

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Company:

Universal Pictures

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Silent Feminists: America's First Women Directors (1993)

A Message Wrapped in a Story

A child, Jewel (played with a bright smile by Jane Mercer), is the only hope for the inhabitants of "Castle Discord." The spiteful antagonists include her grandfather and his maid pit against her widowed aunt and her daughter. There's more story here than in the other films I've seen by Lois Weber. Weber still includes a message or two, though. That was her goal with film-making--to deliver morality to the public. This time, her message was something along the lines of: hate and classism are bad, and if we all got along, we'd be happier. I found the message, or, rather, the story, somewhat heartwarming. Only the heavy-handed teetotalism comes off as ridiculous.

(Note: The print I saw was slightly worn.)