The Godless Girl (1929)

High school students led by the Girl and Boy turn from Christianity toward secret atheistic meetings. When a girl is accidentally killed by a stairway collapse, the Girl and Boy go to ... See full summary »

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Jeanie Macpherson (story), Beulah Marie Dix (titles),

Stars:

Lina Basquette, Marie Prevost, Tom Keene

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lina Basquette	...	Judy Craig - The Girl
Marie Prevost	...	Mame - The Other Girl
Tom Keene	...	Bob Hathaway - The Boy (as George Duryea)
Noah Beery	...	The Brute
Eddie Quillan	...	Samuel 'Bozo' Johnson - The Goat
Mary Jane Irving	...	The Victim
Clarence Burton	...	Prison Guard
Richard Alexander	...	Prison Guard (as Dick Alexander)
Kate Price	...	Prison Matron
Hedwiga Reicher	...	Prison Matron (as Hedwig Reicher)
Julia Faye	...	Inmate
Viola Louie	...	Inmate
Emily Barrye	...	Inmate

Storyline

High school students led by the Girl and Boy turn from Christianity toward secret atheistic meetings. When a girl is accidentally killed by a stairway collapse, the Girl and Boy go to reform school where they are treated brutally.

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Plot Keywords:

high school | reform school | atheist | manslaughter | shower | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 1929 (USA)

Also Known As:

Atheist

Filming Locations:

Las Turas Ranch, Thousand Oaks, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

C.B. DeMille Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Silent (RCA Photophone System) (talking sequences)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Tom Keene was cast after deMille saw him in an industrial film produced for the National Safety Council by W. Allen Lucey of the Worcester Film Corporation.

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Quotes

Opening Title Card: [first card] It is not generally known that there are Atheist Societies using the schools of the country as their battle-ground - attacking, through the Youth of the Nation, the beliefs that are sacred to most of the people.
Opening Title Card: [second card] And no fanatics are so bitter as youthful fanatics.

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Connections

Featured in Cecil B. DeMille: American Epic (2004)

User Reviews

Early DeMille morality tale...not bad at all with climactic fire sequence...

During the awkward transitional stage from silents to talkies, Cecil B. DeMille made this 1929 story about THE GODLESS GIRL. It's given a very heavy-handed treatment and the Christian values vs. Atheism may seem a bit jarring to modern audiences.

LINA BASQUETTE has the title role, a movie originally shot as a silent film but with some sound added before the film was released. It's an intimate drama, a crime story involving high school students, not the usual epic kind of film DeMille is famous for except for a climactic fire sequence.

A riot breaks out at high school when someone circulates pamphlets on Atheism and meets a lot of resistance from a religious group. Three of the students end up in a reformatory when one of the girls among the students dies when a stair railing collapses.

Treatment there seems to be worse than the average prison. Things go from bad to worse when brutal guard NOAH BEERY gets his hands on two of the male students disobeying rules. DeMille seems to relish showing the brutal treatment. The hero of the tale, TOM KEENE, devises an escape plan so he and Lina can escape the torments of the so-called reform school.

Suspense builds for the escape plan and there's a quieter interlude where the boy and girl with different beliefs fall in love. But then the action picks up again after the two are found by the authorities and returned to their prison. While she's in solitary, an accidental fire sets the stage for the very suspenseful conclusion wherein the hero has to come to her rescue.

Summing up: One of the better silent films, it holds the interest throughout and builds to a realistic fire sequence that director DeMille milks for all it's worth.