Soul of the Beast

19231923
PassedPassed
1h 5m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Madge Bellamy and Oscar the Elephant in Soul of the Beast (1923)

Ruth, a young girl, runs away from an abusive stepfather, who owns a circus, and takes the circus' trained elephant--her only friend--with her. She winds up in a logging camp in the Canadian... Read allRuth, a young girl, runs away from an abusive stepfather, who owns a circus, and takes the circus' trained elephant--her only friend--with her. She winds up in a logging camp in the Canadian woods and meets Paul, a young crippled musician who has made an enemy of the town bully, ... Read allRuth, a young girl, runs away from an abusive stepfather, who owns a circus, and takes the circus' trained elephant--her only friend--with her. She winds up in a logging camp in the Canadian woods and meets Paul, a young crippled musician who has made an enemy of the town bully, Caesare. Caesare starts to take out his wrath on Ruth also, but she receives protection fr... Read all

IMDb RATING

6.7/10

YOUR RATING

- John Griffith Wray
- C. Gardner Sullivan(story)
- Ralph Dixon(scenario)
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Featured review

Surreal Film Adventure

Odd little film that stars Madge Bellamy as a Canadian girl who runs away from the circus her step-father owns because of his abusive ways. She takes her pet elephant Oscar with her (of course) and hides out in the deep woods until one day they come upon a small village that is run by an abusive man (Noah Beery). She also finds a lame violinist (Cullen Landis) who is a special victim of Beery's.

Bellamy is put to work in a kitchen while Beery continues to run the town. After Landis buys Bellamy a dress, Beery goes nuts so they run away with Oscar still trying to find them. The escape down river in canoes is well done.

A surreal film that almost plays as a fairy tale, THE SOUL OF THE BEAST has some very good moments involving the talented elephant. The three stars are all quite good. Beery was a major villain of the silent screen. Bellamy was a big star. Landis is best remembered as the male lead in the first all talking picture: THE LIGHTS OF NEW YORK.

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