The Red Lily (1924)

Two young lovers escape their past lives to Paris until fate separates them.

Director:

Fred Niblo

Writers:

Fred Niblo, Bess Meredyth (scenarist)

Stars:

Ramon Novarro, Enid Bennett, Frank Currier

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Ramon Novarro	...	Jean Leonnec
Enid Bennett	...	Marise La Noue
Frank Currier	...	Hugo Leonnec
Mitchell Lewis	...	D'Agut
Rosita Marstini	...	Madame Charpied (as Risita Marstini)
Sidney Franklin	...	Her Husband
Wallace Beery	...	Bo-Bo
George Nichols	...	Concierge
Emily Fitzroy	...	Mama Bouchard
George Periolat	...	Papa Bouchard
Rosemary Theby	...	Nana
Milla Davenport	...	Madame Poussot
Gibson Gowland	...	Le Turc
Dick Sutherland	...	The Toad

Storyline

Jean and Marise, two young lovers, are forced from their homes by disapproving parents. To escape the oppression in their homes, the couple flees to Paris. When they arrive, Jean leaves Marise briefly to arrange their wedding when he is arrested for theft from his own father. The couple is irrevocably separated, and their lives deviate into the slums and hard labor of low-class French society. All the while, the two desperately search for their lost love.

---

Plot Keywords:

escape | prison | plant in title | orphan | fight | 

---

Taglines:

A young man of wealth has been disinherited by his father for falling in love with a girl of poor parents and has fled with her to Paris. They lose each other there, and are drawn into the underworld. Years later the man, now a thief sought by the police, is lured into the room of a woman of the streets. In her room he recognizes the lost sweetheart of his youth. At the same instant she realizes that this disreputable gamin before her is the lost idol of her dreams. The final reunion of the lovers makes a climax of unutterable suspense.

---

Genres:

Drama

---

Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 September 1924 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Dornenweg der Marise

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min 81 min (2005 alternate)

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The IMDb credited cast list is based on the 2005 alternate version. That print's credits, however, may have been modified to include Rosita Marstini and Sidney Franklin, both of whom were omitted in the published cast list in The New York Times review of 29 September 1924.

User Reviews

Brilliant Film-making

The plot strains credulity and Novarro's character changes his mind without conviction (other than this is what the script dictates)at least once. And it's melodramatic, depending on the kind of mischance that drives a Thomas Hardy novel. Enid Bennett is no Lillian Gish -- Bennett does not demonstrate that subtle shift in emotion and attitude that makes Gish so great -- although the changes in Bennett's makeup are remarkable. She does, finally, revert to "Angel Face." That said, this is a classic silent film. It uses a minimum of title cards. Its shots are beautifully designed. It has a neat repeat of the beginning in the ending -- with the exception that Wallace Beery's Bo Bo is involved in the latter. He's the only one who seems to grasp what a close call the lovers have just had. The final scene becomes a visual summary of the film. One moment -- when Bennett lights a candle on the fireplace of her former home and the tint immediately becomes orange --is breathtaking. The Paris depicted is that of Victor Hugo -- no grand vistas or broad boulevards, but cul de sacs, hovels, brothels, the sewers, and the constant pursuit of avenging gendarmes. The film demonstrates why these films packed movie houses and why they are still so much more worth watching than 90 % of "talkies."