The Actress (1928 film)

The Actress
1928 lobby poster
Directed by	Sidney Franklin
Produced by	Louis B. Mayer Irving Thalberg
Written by	Albert Lewin Richard Schayer Joseph Farnham (intertitles)
Based on	Trelawny of the 'Wells'  by Arthur Wing Pinero
Starring	Norma Shearer
Cinematography	William H. Daniels
Edited by	Conrad A. Nervig
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release dates	April 28, 1928 (United States)
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent English intertitles

The Actress was a 1928 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The film was directed by Sidney Franklin and starred Norma Shearer.

This film was based on the 1898 play Trelawny of the 'Wells' by Arthur Wing Pinero that had first premiered on Broadway in 1898 starring Mary Mannering, which was revived by Ethel Barrymore in 1911, Laurette Taylor in 1925, and at the time this film was produced (1927) by Helen Gahagan.^[1] The story is only distantly related to the 1953 Jean Simmons film The Actress which was updated by actress Ruth Gordon. The play was first brought to the screen as a British made silent film Trelawny of the Wells in 1916.

This film is one of many lost MGM films from the 1920s.^[2]

Cast

• Norma Shearer as Rose Trelawny
• Owen Moore as Tom Wrench
• Gwen Lee as Avonia
• Lee Moran as Colpoys
• Roy D'Arcy as Gadd
• Virginia Pearson as Mrs. Telfer
• William J. Humphrey as Mr. Telfer
• Effie Ellsler as Mrs. Mossop
• Ralph Forbes as Arthur Gower
• O.P. Heggie as Vice-Chancellor Sir William Gower
• Andree Tourneur as Clara de Foenix
• Cyril Chadwick as Captain de Foenix
• Margaret Seddon as Miss Trafalgar Gower

References

1. Trelawney of the Wells original 1898 Broadway debut and the many revivals over the years ; IBDb.com database
2. The Actress at silentera.com

External links

• The Actress at the Internet Movie Database
• The Actress at AllMovie
• Lantern slide for the film at the Cleveland Public Library