''A Man Must Live'' is a 1925 American silent

adventure film An adventure film is a form of adventure fiction, and is a genre of film. Subgenres of adventure films include swashbuckler films, pirate films, and survival films. Adventure films may also be combined with other film genres such as action, a ...

directed by Paul Sloane and written by

James Ashmore Creelman James Ashmore Creelman (September 21, 1894 – September 9, 1941) was a film writer in Hollywood. Biography He was born on September 21, 1894, in Marietta, Ohio. He was the second son of James Creelman, the journalist and Alice Leffingwell Buel ...

based upon the novel ''Jungle Law'' by I. A. R. Wylie. The film stars

Richard Dix Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

Jacqueline Logan Jacqueline Medura Logan (November 30, 1902 – April 4, 1983) was an American actress and silent film star. Logan was a WAMPAS Baby Star of 1922. Early life Logan was born in Corsicana, Texas, on November 30, 1902, the only child to Charles A. ...

, George Nash,

Edna Murphy Edna Murphy (November 17, 1899 – August 3, 1974) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 80 films between 1918 and 1933. Murphy was voted "Most Photographed Movie Star of 1925" by '' ScreenLand Magazine''. For part of ...

Charles Byer Charles Byer (February 28, 1893 – November 28, 1953) was an American film actor of the silent era.Babington & Barr p. 133 He appeared in films for a variety of companies including Fox, Paramount, Tiffany, and First National Pictures. He played ...

, and

Dorothy Walters Dorothy Walters (1877-1934) was an American stage performer and film actress noted for her work in vaudeville, in Broadway productions for nearly 30 years, and in silent films between 1918 and the mid-1920s. Early life and stage career Walte ...

. The film was released on January 19, 1925, by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine, back from

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and finding a soldier's welcome, Geoffrey Farnell (Dix), while waiting the outcome of a lawsuit against a corporation, finds an uncongenial place on the staff of a scandal-hunting newspaper. Editor Job Hardcastle (Nash) gives Geoffrey a warning that his stories lack the hectic pep that his readers demand. He is sent to find a racy society divorcee 'Mops' Collins (Logan) who has sunk to the level of working as a cabaret dancer at a cheap concert hall. He finds her begging the manager (Ricciardi) not to send her off to a hospital to die. Geoffrey is touched with pity, and when she staggers to the street in her scanty stage costume, he takes her to his apartment. Reporting a failure to get the story to Hardcastle, he promises that he will turn up a real story if given one more chance. He finds this chance when a war-time buddy Clive Ross-Fayne (Beyer),

shell shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a rea ...

ed and devoid of recollection of his personality, is brought into court on charges of being a dope peddler. Believed to be dead and posthumously decorated for valor, it would make a sensation to identify this wreck as the lamented hero. However, Geoffrey loves the man's sister Eleanor (Murphy). He holds off until he is forced to give up the story to obtain the money that will keep his helpless charge out of the hospital. Then, in a fit of remorse, he seeks to stop publication of the story with a fight, but in vain. As he faces arrest for his assault on the editor, the young woman comes to denounce him, and the friendless waif lies dead in the next room. In an irony of fate, his suit is settled and he comes into his fortune too late to prevent his shame. However, Eleanor understands, the editor is abashed, and the happy ending comes at last.

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of ''A Man Must Live'' located in any film archives,Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''A Man Must Live''
/ref> it is a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

References

External links

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Lobby cards and still
at richarddix.org 1925 films American adventure films 1925 adventure films Paramount Pictures films American black-and-white films American silent feature films Films directed by Paul Sloane 1920s English-language films 1920s American films Silent adventure films {{silent-adventure-film-stub