The Avalanche (1919 film)
The Avalanche | |
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File:Elsie Ferguson 1919.jpg
Newspaper advertisement (1919)
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Directed by | George Fitzmaurice |
Produced by | Adolph Zukor Jesse L. Lasky |
Written by | Ouida Bergere (scenario) |
Based on | The Avalanche: A Mystery Story by Gertrude Atherton |
Starring | Elsie Ferguson Lumsden Hare Warner Oland Zeffie Tilbury |
Cinematography | Arthur C. Miller |
Production
company |
Famous Players–Lasky / Artcraft
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Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release dates
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Running time
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50+ minutes (5 reels at 5,273 ft) |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Avalanche is a 1919 American silent drama film about gambling directed by George Fitzmaurice who also served as the film's art director. William Scully was the assistant director to Fitzmaurice. The film stars Elsie Ferguson and Warner Oland. Ferguson plays a dual role in the film, portraying both mother and daughter.
This is the first film that teamed director Fitzmaurice and star Ferguson. Some scenes were filmed in Lake Placid, New York.[1] Ferguson's gowns were by the designer Callot Soeurs. The film is now considered a lost film.[2][3][4]
Contents
Cast
- Elsie Ferguson as Chichita, Madame Delano, Helene
- Lumsden Hare as Price Ruyler
- Zeffie Tilbury as Mrs Ruyler
- Fred Esmelton as John Harvey
- William Roselle as Ferdie Derenforth
- Grace Field as Sybil Price
- Warner Oland as Nick Delano
- Harry Wise
- George Dupre
- William T. Carleton
Plot
After her father, the owner of a gambling house in Spain, is murdered and her husband, a hardened gambler, commits suicide, Chichita takes her little girl and abandons her in a convent. There, little Helene will be raised by the nuns until, fifteen years later, now grown up, the girl escapes.
She meets and marries novelist Price Ruyler. Soon domestic life bores the young bride who, in New York City, becomes fascinated by nightlife and gambling. One of the gambling saloons she frequents belongs to Nick Delano, Chichita's second husband. Helene, addicted to gambling, suffers heavy losses. She tries to cover them with her jewelry, even stealing money from her husband's wallet, but gets in over her head.
Her mother, who has recognized her, wants to help her but Delano, discovering the bond between the two women, telephones Price. Helene struggles with Delano, who accidentally falls from the balcony and dies. To protect her daughter, Mrs. Delano blames herself for her husband's death and, in prison, poisons herself.
Years later, sitting in front of a burning fireplace, Helene quietly embroiders while Price embraces her affectionately.
See also
- List of lost films
- The House That Shadows Built, 1931 Paramount promotional film. A possibility that the Elsie Ferguson clip shown is from The Avalanche.
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 published by The American Film Institute, 1988 edit.
- ↑ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films: The Avalanche(Wayback)
- ↑ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Avalanche
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Avalanche (film). |
- Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). The Avalanche at IMDb
- The Avalanche at silentera.com
- Synopsis at AllMovie
- Elsie Ferguson and Lumsden Hare in a still photo from The Avalanche (Univ. of Washington, Sayre Collection)
- Lantern slide
- kinotv
- still image
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- Articles with short description
- Pages with broken file links
- 1919 films
- Commons category link is locally defined
- American silent feature films
- Films based on American novels
- Films directed by George Fitzmaurice
- Lost American drama films
- Paramount Pictures films
- 1919 drama films
- American black-and-white films
- Films with screenplays by Ouida Bergère
- Silent American drama films
- Films based on works by Gertrude Atherton
- 1919 lost films
- 1910s American films
- 1910s English-language films
- English-language drama films
- 1910s drama film stubs