''What's His Name'' is a 1914 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

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

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American film director, producer and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of the American cine ...

. A 35mm print of this film exists in the

George Eastman House The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as ''George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film'', the world's oldest museum dedicated to photography and one of the world's oldest film archives, opened to the public in 1949 in ...

film archive.

Plot

A baker’s daughter, Nellie Duluth, marries a soda fountain operator, Harvey. After a handful of happy years of marriage, Nellie meets a chorus girl passing through their tiny town and becomes friends with her. She offers Nellie a spot in their chorus for 20 dollars a week, and she accepts it. Not wanting to separate from her family, Harvey and their now daughter, Phoebe, come with her to New York to work. Nellie gains popularity rapidly, acquiring the attention of a wealthy millionaire, Fairfax. It is suggested to Nellie by the companies theater manager that she should distance herself from her husband and daughter, so she moves the both of them to a house in Tarrytown, equipped with a maid and a cook. Nellie continues to stay and work in Manhattan, only spending time and visiting her family on Sundays. After repeatedly getting humiliated, Harvey becomes known as “What’s His Name." Having enough of the treatment and embarrassment, Harvey shows up at a party in Nellie’s dressing room wielding a pistol. Fairfax pays Harvey a visit at the Tarrytown home and offers him a large sum of money in exchange for Harvey letting Nellie go. This resulted in Harvey punching Fairfax, which then led to Harvey getting beaten. Being under Fairfax’s hold, Nellie stops paying rent on the Tarrytown home and throws her husband and daughter out, leaving them to walk back to their tiny hometown on foot, with nothing but a “God Bless Our Home” wall plaque in hand. During Harvey and Phoebe’s month-long trek back home, Nellie travels to Reno, Nevada, to file for divorce. When Phoebe becomes life-threateningly sick, Harvey contacts Nellie. Coming out of Fairfax’s charm, she decides to abandon the idea of divorce and go back to her family to care for her daughter.

Cast

* Max Figman as Harvey * Lolita Robertson as Nellie *

Sydney Deane Sydney Leslie Deane (1 March 1863 – 20 March 1934) was a first-class cricketer and entertainer, and the first Australian to appear in a Hollywood movie. Biography In Australia Born in Balmain, Sydney, to Edward and Sophia, Deane was a prom ...

as Uncle Peter * Richard L'Estrange as Best Man * Merta Carpenter as Friend Of Nellie's * Fred Montague as Fairfax *

Theodore Roberts Theodore Roberts (October 8, 1861 – December 14, 1928) was an American film and stage actor. Early life Roberts was born in San Francisco, California. He was a cousin of the stage actress Florence Roberts. His choice of a career disapp ...

as Character Man * Cecilia de Mille as Phoebe, The Child

References

External links

*
''What's His Name'' at SilentEraMax Figman and Lolita Robertson in a scenesurviving window poster to ''What's His Name''
The names scribbled on the item are Mr. James Kirkwood, Lowell Sherman, Russell Bassett and Ida Waterman. This cast did not appear in ''What's His Name''. They appear in the Mary Pickford film ''

Behind the Scenes In cinema, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a type of documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK (electronic press kit) vi ...

'' released October 26, 1914, four days after ''What's His Name''.
"What's-His-Name" (novelized adaptation of film) in ''Photoplay Magazine'', December 1914
{{DEFAULTSORT:What's His Name 1914 films 1914 comedy-drama films 1910s English-language films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Cecil B. DeMille 1910s American films Silent American comedy-drama films