The White Shadow (film)
| The White Shadow | |
|---|---|
| Directed by |
Graham Cutts Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited) |
| Produced by |
Michael Balcon Victor Saville |
| Written by |
Graham Cutts Alfred Hitchcock (uncredited) Michael Morton (novel Children of Chance) |
| Starring |
Betty Compson Clive Brook Henry Victor A. B. Imeson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by |
Woolf & Freedman Film Service (UK) Selznick Releasing (US) |
Release dates |
August 1923 (UK) 13 October 1924 (US) |
Running time | 82 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language |
Silent English intertitles |
The White Shadow (1923), also known as White Shadows in the US, is a British drama film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Betty Compson, Clive Brook, and Henry Victor.[1]
Plot
The plot concerns twin sisters, one good, the other evil.[2]
Cast
- Betty Compson as Nancy Brent / Georgina Brent
- Clive Brook as Robin Field
- Henry Victor as Louis Chadwick
- A. B. Imeson as Mr. Brent
- Olaf Hytten as Herbert Barnes
- Daisy Campbell as Elizabeth Brent
Production
The film is based on the novel Children of Chance by Michael Morton. Alfred Hitchcock collaborated with Cutts on the film. Cutts and Hitchcock made the film quickly, as they wanted to make use of Betty Compson, who had appeared in their hit Woman to Woman (also 1923), before she returned to the United States.[3]
The film was made at the Gainsborough Pictures studio in Hoxton, London.[4]
Writing about the film in 1969, producer Michael Balcon said:
"Engrossed in our first production [Woman to Woman], we had made no preparations for the second. Caught on the hop, we rushed into production with a story called The White Shadow. It was as big a flop as Woman to Woman had been a success."[5]
Preservation status
The film was long thought to be lost. In August 2011, the National Film Preservation Foundation announced that the first three reels of the six-reel picture had been found in the garden shed of Jack Murtagh in Hastings, New Zealand in 1989 and donated to the NFPF. One film can was mislabeled Two Sisters, while the other simply stated Unidentified American Film. Only later were they identified.
The film was restored by Park Road Studios and is now in the New Zealand Film Archive.[2][6][7]
Bibliography
- Racheal Low, The History of British Film: Volume IV, 1918–1929 (Routledge, 1997)
References
- ↑ "The White Shadow". British Film Institute. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- 1 2 "Rare Alfred Hitchcock film footage uncovered". BBC News. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ↑ Low p.135
- ↑ "The White Shadow". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ↑ Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light by Patrick McGilligan [pg 754]
- ↑ Westbrook, Laura (3 August 2011). "Early Hitchcock film found in NZ". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ↑ Zafar, Aylin (23 September 2011). "Lost for 80 years, Alfred Hitchcock's Earliest Known Film Makes Its Debut". Time. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
External links
- The White Shadow at the Internet Movie Database
- The White Shadow at SilentEra
- 'The White Shadow (1924) on YouTube