The Captive (1915 film)
The Captive | |
---|---|
Directed by | Cecil B. DeMille |
Written by | Cecil B. DeMille Jeanie MacPherson |
Story by | Cecil B. DeMille |
Produced by | Cecil B. DeMille Jesse L. Lasky |
Starring | Blanche Sweet |
Cinematography | Alvin Wyckoff |
Edited by | Cecil B. DeMille |
Production company | Jesse Lasky Feature Plays |
Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 50 minutes |
Country | United States |
Languages | Silent English intertitles |
Budget | $12,153.54[1] |
Box office | $56,074.88[1][2] |
The Captive is an American
Plot
The Captive chronicles the life of a young woman named Sonia Martinovitch (
At first, Sonia holds Hassan captive with the use of her bullwhip[6] and forces him to get water, bake, and plow the fields. Hassan begins to befriend young Milo to alleviate his humiliation and suffering.[6] Gradually, Sonia warms up to him and they fall deeply in love.
The war wages on, and the Ottomans recapture the village where Sonia, Hassan and Milo live. A drunken officer (William Elmer) tries to force himself on Martinovich, but she refuses. Fueled by love, Hassan intervenes, despite the fact that the officer is Turkish. When the Ottoman army is driven out of the village, Hassan returns home to find that he has been stripped of his title, his land has been taken, and he has been banished from his homeland, all for thwarting the drunken officer's attack on Sonia. Meanwhile, at the farm, a pack of unruly scavengers have burned the Martinovich family's modest house, forcing them to abandon their home. The siblings meet Hassan on the road, and the lovebirds and Milo walk off to begin a new life together.[7]
Cast
- Blanche Sweet as Sonya Martinovich
- House Petersas Muhamud Hassan
- Page Peters as Marko
- Theodore Roberts as The Burgomaster
- Gerald Ward as Milos Martinovich
- Jeanie MacPherson as Milka
- Marjorie Daw
- William Elmer as Turkish Officer
- Tex Driscoll
- Raymond Hatton as Turkish Soldier (uncredited)
Notable people
The Famous Players–Lasky Corporation
The director,
Blanche Sweet
Sweet was not a fan of DeMille off screen. She starred in two feature films with DeMille (The Captive and Warrens of Virginia) and had a negative experience during both. She described her time with DeMille as “‘... a terrible time’ ... [she] was terrified of him.” [11] Sweet felt he was strange, but DeMille spun the story to make it sound like he was the one terrified of her. Although Sweet and DeMille didn’t quite click, she had a much better experience with his brother, William C. DeMille, “who, ‘had a more subtle way of doing things.’” [11] She worked with William on three films, The Ragamuffin, The Blacklist, and The Sowers. These films were all released in 1916.[11] DeMille then continued on to direct 70 more films throughout his career.[4]
Cecil B. DeMille
Preservation status
The film was thought to be
See also
- The House That Shadows Built (1931, 20 year anniversary promotional film by Paramount Pictures)
- List of rediscovered films
- Blanche Sweet filmography
References
- ^ ISBN 0-813-12324-0.
- ^ "De Mille's Costs-Gross". Variety. March 21, 1928. p. 5. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
- ^ "Motion Picture News - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g Birchard, Robert (2004). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 44–46.
- ^ DeMille, Cecil B. (April 22, 1915), The Captive, retrieved October 4, 2016
- ^ a b "Motion Picture News - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "The Captive (1915) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ a b The Story of The Famous Players–Lasky Corporation. New York: Paramount-Artcraft Motion Pictures. 1919.
- ^ "Motion Picture News - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Motion Picture News - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library". lantern.mediahist.org. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ a b c Slide, Anthony (2010). Silent Players a Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky.
- ^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, (<-book title) p.26 c.1978 by the American Film Institute
- ^ "American Silent Feature Film Database: The Captive". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
External links
- The Captive at IMDb
- The Captive at AllMovie
- The Captive Archived January 13, 2017, at the Wayback Machine at Olive Films