Vanity's Price is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Anna Q. Nilsson. It was produced by the Gothic Productions company and released by FBO.Progressive Silent Film List: Vanity's Price at silentera.com
The film is notable as the feature that brought assistant director Josef von Sternberg to the attention of critics for his handling of two sequences in the film.Sternberg, 1965 p. 197-198
Cast Anna Q. Nilsson as Vanna Du Maurier Stuart Holmes as Henri De Greve Wyndham Standing as Richard Dowling Arthur Rankin as Teddy, Vanna's son Lucille Ricksen as Sylvia, Teddy's fiancée Robert Bolder as Bill Connors, Theatrical Manager Cissy Fitzgerald as Mrs. Connors Dot Farley as Katherine, Vanna's Maid Charles Newton as Butler Rowfat-Bey Haliloff as Dancer
Production
Von Sternberg, in his 1965 autobiography recalls:
Von Sternberg writes:
When the picture was previewed this sequence was praised by critics and von Sternberg was offered a position as director at FBO studios, but he turned it down to make an independently financed film, The Salvation Hunters (1925).Sternberg, 1965 p. 198Hall, 1924Baxter, 1971 p. 25-26: see footnote "October 8, 1924" review.
Preservation Vanity's Price is currently presumed lost. In February of 2021, the film was cited by the National Film Preservation Board on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list.
Footnotes
Sources Baxter, John. 1971. The Cinema of Josef von Sternberg. London: A. Zwemmer / New York: A. S. Barnes & Co. Hall, Mordaunt. 1924. THE SCREEN: “A Rejuvenation Story.” The New York Times, October 8, 1924. https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/08/archives/the-screen-a-rejuvenation-story.html Retrieved 20 May 2024. Sternberg, Josef von. 1988. Fun in a Chinese Laundry. Mercury House, San Francisco, California. (pbk.)
External links