Norma Talmadge in Silent Drama “The Lady” (1925)

The Lady is a 1925 American silent drama film starring Norma Talmadge and directed by Frank Borzage. A young woman, Polly Pearl, marries the wastrel son of a British aristocrat. Her husband, who has been disinherited by his father, loses what little money he has left gambling in casinos and then dies, leaving her penniless and with an infant son. When her former father-in-law tries to get custody of the child, she leaves him with a couple she trusts, but when she later goes to reclaim her son, she can’t find the people she left him with.

Norma Talmadge in The Lady directed by Frank Borzage, 1925 via

Norma Talmadge in The Lady directed by Frank Borzage, 1925 via

Norma Talmadge in The Lady directed by Frank Borzage, 1925 via

Norma Talmadge in The Lady directed by Frank Borzage, 1925 via

Silent Film Star Gilda Gray for Aloma of the South Seas (1926)

Aloma of the South Seas is a 1926 American silent comedy drama film. A young South Seas native boy is sent to the U.S. for his education. After his father dies, he returns to his island to try to stop a revolution. Gilda Gray starres as the exotic dancer Aloma. The films setting was in Puerto Rico and Bermuda. It was based on a 1925 play of the same title by John B. Hymer and LeRoy Clemens. ‘

Grossing $3 million in the U.S. alone, this was the most successful film of 1926 and the fourth most successful film of the 1920s. The film is now considered to be a lost film.

Gilda Gray in Aloma of the South Seas, 1926 via

Gilda Gray in Aloma of the South Seas, 1926 via

Brigitte Helm as Scheming Baroness Sandorf in L’Argent (1928)

L’Argent (“money”) is a French silent film directed in 1928 by Marcel L’Herbier. The film was adapted from the novel L’Argent by Émile Zola, and it portrays the world of banking and the stock market in 1920s Paris. Marcel L’Herbier insisted that the film should be updated from the 1860s to the present-day.

The plot revolves around rival Paris bankers Saccard and Gunderman. Saccard sees an opportunity to rescue his failing bank, Banque Universelle, by financing the solo transatlantic flight of Jacques Hamelin, a pioneering aviator, and then capitalising on his popularity to set up a colonial business project in Guyane. He also hopes to seduce Hamelin’s wife Line in his absence. When a rumour circulates that Hamelin has crashed, Saccard exploits the false reports to manipulate shares at the Bourse.

Gunderman disapproves of Saccard and his methods, and has secretly bought shares in his bank as a future weapon against him. The Baroness Sandorf, a former lover of Saccard, acts as a spy to assist Gunderman’s interests, and more particularly her own. Brigitte Helm stars as the scheming baroness.

Today L’Argent is regarded by many to be ground-breaking work and one of the cinema’s greatest achievements.

Brigitte Helm in L’Argent via

Brigitte Helm in L’Argent via

Brigitte Helm in L’Argent via

Gloria Swanson in the silent film ‘Sadie Thompson’ (1928)

Sadie Thompson is a 1928 American silent drama film that tells the story of a “fallen woman” who comes to Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila to start a new life, but encounters a zealous missionary who wants to force her back to her former life in San Francisco. The film stars Gloria Swanson, Lionel Barrymore, and Raoul Walsh.

1928: American actress Gloria Swanson (1897-1983) in a scene from the silent film ‘Sadie Thompson’, directed by Raoul Walsh and William Cameron Menzies. via

1928: American actress Gloria Swanson (1897-1983) in a scene from the silent film ‘Sadie Thompson’, directed by Raoul Walsh and William Cameron Menzies. via

1928: American actress Gloria Swanson (1897-1983) in a scene from the silent film ‘Sadie Thompson’, directed by Raoul Walsh and William Cameron Menzies. via