The Whispering Chorus (1918)

John Trimble has embezzled and obtains another identity by having a mutilated body buried in his place. He is later arrested for murdering himself. During the trial his mother, before dying... See full summary »

Director:

Cecil B. DeMille

Writers:

Jeanie Macpherson, Perley Poore Sheehan (novel)

Stars:

Raymond Hatton, Kathlyn Williams, Edythe Chapman

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Raymond Hatton	...	John Tremble
Kathlyn Williams	...	Jane Tremble
Edythe Chapman	...	John Tremble's mother
Elliott Dexter	...	George Coggeswell
Noah Beery	...	Longshoreman
Guy Oliver	...	Chief McFarland
John Burton	...	Charles Barden
Tully Marshall	...	F.P. Clumley
William H. Brown	...	Stauberry
James Neill	...	Channing
Gustav von Seyffertitz	...	Mocking Face
Walter Lynch	...	Evil Face
Edna Mae Cooper	...	Good Face

Storyline

John Trimble has embezzled and obtains another identity by having a mutilated body buried in his place. He is later arrested for murdering himself. During the trial his mother, before dying from shock, asks him to keep his identity secret since his wife is now married to the Governor and expecting a child.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The wedding sequence in which George Coggeswell (Elliott Dexter) marries Jane Trimble (Kathlyn Williams) was staged at Christ Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. The best man was played by Paramount executive Charles F. Eyton, who was married to Kathlyn Williams in real life. According to Dexter, Eyton had to be persuaded to allow the use of the couple's actual wedding rings for the scene.

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Connections

Featured in The House That Shadows Built (1931)

User Reviews

Beautifully underplayed acting, directing, cinematography all add up to astonishing creation

Raymond Hatton is probably best remembered for his over-the-top Western sidekick roles, but he should be better remembered for such roles as this one.

For one thing, he shows that with a properly restraining director, one who watches details, he could be as skilled an actor as Hollywood ever had.

Kathlyn Williams is generally unknown today, except among film fans and historians, but her performance here is evidence she deserved her acclaim at the time.

Other than Noah Beery and Tully Marshall, in small roles, the cast will be known, again, only to historians, but every single actor gave a first-class performance.

Cecil B. DeMille is best known for huge epics, but even in those "cast of thousands" pictures, he was admired and respected for his attention to detail. He would, for example, notice if an extra was wearing the wrong type of sandal.

Here, in "The Whispering Chorus," his attention is on tiny movements and gestures by his players, little touches that make each of them seem so human, so realistically human.

His characters make little motions toward others, or fondle something on a desk, or pick up and replace an item -- all very humanizing.

This is not a happy experience, but it is an enlightening one. Viewers can learn, even if perhaps again, that DeMille was a first-class director of even small films, and we can learn, even if perhaps again, that Raymond Hatton was a first-class actor, deserving to be so recognized, and remembered for much more than the third partner in his B Westerns.

In summation, "The Whispering Chorus" is an experience, not really pleasant entertainment, but a moving drama that every serious student or just fan of early motion pictures really ought to see.

Especially those who don't realize what quality was there in a movie made as early as 1918. Really, it is astonishing. I strongly recommend it.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 March 1918 (USA)

Also Known As:

A suttogó kórus

Box Office

Budget:

$72,500 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1