Anna Christie (Silent)

Old sea dog Chris Christopherson is wary of an upcoming visit from his estranged daughter, Anna Christie. Years ago, he abandoned her for a life at sea, believing Anna to be better off without him. Most of all, Chris does not want her to get involved with a sailor like him. When Anna finally arrives at the docks looking for shelter, her father is shocked by how hardened she's become. He invites her to live with him on his boat in an effort to rebuild their relationship. Before long, Chris's greatest fear comes true, and Anna falls in love with a rough-and-tumble sailor. After he forbids her from seeing him, Anna angrily reveals what she's really been doing for the past few years to her father. The shocking revelation may prove to be too much for the old man's heart...

Famed movie producer Thomas H. Ince paid playwright Eugene O'Neill an astonishing $100,000 for the rights to make this first film version of his acclaimed work Anna Christie. After considering stage actress Pauline Lord, Ince cast Blanche Sweet in the title role. Blanche Sweet (her real name) was best known for her work with pioneering director D.W. Griffith, ranging from one-reelers like The Lonedale Operator (1911) and A Temporary Truce (1912) to later features like The Avenging Conscience and Judith of Bethulia (both 1914). Blanche was far from the frail, childlike actresses like Lillian Gish and Mae Marsh that Griffith later favored. ("Husky and well-built, she had a determined look about her" said Joe Franklin.) Actor George F. Marion was retained from the stage version as Chris Christopherson. In keeping with O'Neill's aesthetic, Sweet wanted to retain the realistic tenor of the play, leading her to clash with director John Griffith Wray, who favored expressive melodrama. Relations between star and director got so bad that producer Ince had to step in and redo certain scenes. To Blanche's dismay, Ince ended up shooting the scenes in an even more melodramatic fashion than Wray did! Censorship also plagued the film, leading to twenty-five cuts, even though Anna's profession as a prostitute was never overtly stated. Anna Christie was most famously remade by MGM in 1930 as Greta Garbo's first talking picture (George F. Marion once again played Chris Christopherson, looking just the same as he did in the 1923 version!)

• silent