Male and Female (Silent) – DVD

Gorgeous but spoiled socialite, Lady Mary Lasenby, lives a pampered life of luxury. Loyal butler William Crichton humbly and faithfully serves the Lasenbys while secretly he is in love with Lady Mary. The entire Lasenby clan boards their yacht for an excursion, when they are shipwrecked and marooned on an uncharted isle. Social class quickly vanishes, as the aristocrats complete lack of survival skills soon renders them helpless, while the able and resourceful Crichton, is quickly elected King. Lady Mary falls in love with her new ruler, formerly her servant. But when, at long last, a rescue ship arrives, the death knell sounds for the forbidden love that could never be.

Legendary director Cecil B. DeMille's Male And Female is his film interpretation of Peter Pan creator J. M. Barrie's play, The Admirable Crichton. De Mille's cinematic embellishment, the Babylonian sequence in which a magnificently adorned 20 year old Gloria Swanson is sent to be mauled in the lion's den, is one of the most famous scenes and images in silent film history. This lavish production delivers outstanding performances by its stellar cast which features Gloria Swanson, Thomas Meighan, Lila Lee and Raymond Hatton.

• silent