''Romola'' is a 1924 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Henry King and shot on location in Italy. The film stars Lillian Gish,

Dorothy Gish Dorothy Elizabeth Gish (March 11, 1898June 4, 1968) was an American actress of the screen and stage, as well as a director and writer. Dorothy and her older sister Lillian Gish were major movie stars of the silent era. Dorothy also had great s ...

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...

, and Ronald Colman, and is based on the 1863

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

novel of the same name. This was the second film in which Henry King directed Lillian Gish and Ronald Colman for ''Inspiration Films'', an independent production company which chiefly consisted of King, Charles Duell, and stars Lillian Gish and

Richard Barthelmess Richard Semler Barthelmess (May 9, 1895 – August 17, 1963) was an American film actor, principally of the Hollywood silent era. He starred opposite Lillian Gish in D. W. Griffith's ''Broken Blossoms'' (1919) and ''Way Down East'' (1920) and w ...

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, a boat approaching Italy is set upon by pirates and Baldassaro, a noted scholar, gives his adopted son Tito a ring that will be a passport with all men of learning. Tito escapes but Baldassaro is captured. Tito reaches Florence at the time that the people incited by the priest, Savonarola, has risen and cast out their ruler, Piero de Medici. Accidentally he aids Bardi, a blind man and noted scholar and is received with honors, finally winning consent to his marriage to his daughter Romola who loves Carlo, an artist. Through the aid of Spini, an adventurer who has become the real power behind the government, Tito rises to the post of chief magistrate. In the meantime he flirts with Tessa, a lowly street vendor, going through a mock marriage during a carnival, which is very real to Tessa, so he installs her in a house. A child is born to them. Tito shows his real nature when he sells the priceless books of Bardi, and Romola leaves him. He issues a decree that means death to Savonarola, but his ambition overleaps itself and he is chased by the mob. Jumping into the river followed by Tessa, Tito swims off, leaving her to drown. After floating downstream, he meets death by drowning at the hands of Baldassaro, whom he has refused to recognize. The dying Tessa urges Romola to care for her baby, and the two finally find happiness with Carlo who has remained faithful to her.

Cast

Production

Romola was part of a 1920s boomlet for American silent films shot on locations outside the United States. Such films were intended to attract American viewers through exotic locales, enhance the artistic prestige of directors, and make American films more appealing to foreign audiences. Examples of such films included The Christian (London: 1923), The Bright Shawl (Cuba: 1923) and

The Four Feathers ''The Four Feathers'' is a 1902 adventure novel by British writer A. E. W. Mason that has inspired many films of the same title. In December 1901, ''Cornhill Magazine'' announced the title as one of two new serial stories to be published in th ...

(Tanzania and Sudan: 1929). After the end of the silent era, foreign locations did not become part of American filmmaking again until the 1950s. William Powell later described the production of Romola as a 29-week comedy of errors starting with the capsizing of the boat for the pirate sequence at the onset of filming. Because no one in the company spoke Italian, the quest to obtain tights for Powell and Colman culminated in a two-week detour to Milan to a theatrical tailor for La Scala Opera House. When Powell and Colman returned to the sea-side town of Livorno, they found the film company had departed without leaving a forwarding address. Powell and Colman cabled company offices in London and New York but ran out of money for food while awaiting a response. Powell described it as the hungriest time of his life, when he envied town animals who had owners to feed them. The shoot later became an idyll, with plenty of time to savor the pleasures of Florence and learn Italian, thanks to a relaxed production schedule.

Preservation

A print of the film survives at the

UCLA Film and Television Archive The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a nonprofit exhibition venue, the ar ...

References

External links