The White Sister (1923)

A young woman becomes a nun when she believes her sweetheart has been killed, but things get complicated when he returns alive.

Director:

Henry King

Writers:

Francis Marion Crawford (novel), George V. Hobart,

Stars:

Lillian Gish, Ronald Colman, Gail Kane

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lillian Gish	...	Angela Chiaromonte
Ronald Colman	...	Capt. Giovanni Severini
Gail Kane	...	Marchesa di Mola
J. Barney Sherry	...	Monsignor Saracinesca
Charles Lane	...	Prince Chiaromonte
Juliette La Violette	...	Madame Bernard
Gustavo Serena	...	Prof. Ugo Severi (as Signor Serena)
Alfredo Bertone	...	Filmore Durand
Roman Ibanez	...	Count del Ferice
Alfredo Martinelli	...	Alfredo del Ferice
Ida Carloni Talli	...	Mother Superior (as Carloni Talli)
Giovanni Viccola	...	Gen. Mazzini
Antonio Barda	...	Alfredo's Tutor
Giacomo D'Attino	...	Solicitor to the Prince
Michele Gualdi	...	Solicitor to Count

Storyline

Lillian Gish is the daughter of a rich Italian count who is killed in a fall from his horse. Though Lillian stands to inherit a large estate, her older half-sister burns the will and thus inherits the property herself, throwing Lillian into poverty. Fortunately, she is engaged to marry the dashing officer Ronald Coleman, but he is captured by Arabs on an expedition to Africa. Dedicating her life to his memory, Lillian becomes a nun, unaware that her lover has escaped his captors and returning to Italy! The climax takes place against a backdrop of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

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Plot Keywords:

italy | nun | female protagonist | nunhood | priest | 

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Taglines:

LILLIAN GISH! What a flood of pleasant memories rushes along at the mere mention of her name! YOU sympathized with her in "The Birth of a Nation." YOU suffered with her in "Hearts of the World." YOU pitied her in "Broken Blossoms." YOU cried over her in "Orphans of the Storm." YOU actually cheered her in "Way Down East." Now when you see her in Henry King's production of "The White Sister" you will be thrilled, captivated, and exalted as never before.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1925 (Austria)

Also Known As:

Die weiße Schwester

Filming Locations:

Algeria

Company Credits

Production Co:

Inspiration Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

143 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Title Card: Because of his hopeless love for Angela, the artist had painted her as an unattainable ideal - a woman too holy for mere man to possess.

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Connections

Version of The White Sister (1915)

User Reviews

Lillian Takes Her Vows

This second version of The White Sister, an earlier silent was done in 1915 was the first project of the Gish sisters after they had left the paternal care of D.W. Griffith. Lillian Gish spared no expense in this very long silent film, 123 minutes was quite a demand on the audience's attention. She and director Henry King took the principal cast members to Italy to film on location, something rarely done back in that day.

Gish and King also personally selected their leading man in Ronald Colman who had appeared in several British silents and one American feature before The White Sister. According to the Citadel Film series book, The Films of Ronald Colman, Gish and King saw him on the stage.

Now Ronald Colman had one of the greatest speaking voices in the English language, something we know since the advent of talkies and Colman's sound debut in Bulldog Drummond. But what attracted Gish and King to him was the swarthiness of his complexion, they thought he would pass convincingly for an Italian on the silent screen.

He and Gish made a fine screen team. The story today is rather old fashioned and Gish's saintliness is a bit much at times. Still the film does hold up well.

Gish is the younger half sister of Gail Kane and both are the daughters of Italian duke Charles Lane. When Lane is killed during a hunting accident, Kane quickly finds her father's will and burns it, effectively disinheriting Gish who was they used to say, born on the wrong side of the blanket.

Gish's Catholic faith sees her through the crisis and also the love of young officer Ronald Colman who originally was Kane's guy. Later on he's chosen to head a military mission to North Africa in what is now Libya. This was in the colonial expansionist period in the 19th century in a newly united Italy. But he's reported killed and Gish in her grief surrenders herself to her religion and becomes a nun.

That's as far as I'll go, the ending is not typical of Hollywood normally would give its audience. Still the loose ends of the plot are neatly tied together.

I'm surprised Gail Kane did not come out of this film with a bigger reputation. Her portrayal what might be called the Black Sister is really quite good.

The location cinematography in Italy is first rate and the special effects with Versuvius erupting and a dam bursting for its time are also nicely done. The White Sister is worth a look, I think it's better than the 1933 sound version with Clark Gable and Helen Hayes.