''Lights and Shadows'' is a 1914 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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

Joe De Grasse Joseph Louis De Grasse (May 4, 1873 – May 25, 1940) was a Canadian film director. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he was the elder brother of actor Sam De Grasse. Biography Joseph De Grasse had studied and was a first-class graduate of ac ...

, starring Tom Forman, Pauline Bush and

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor and makeup artist. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often gr ...

. The screenplay was written by Ida May Park (De Grasse's wife). A still exists showing Lon Chaney as Bentley, just before he deserts his wife in the film. The picture is now considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Plot

Eve, a poor flower girl, learns that her mother, a singer, had married Bentley (Lon Chaney), the son of a rich man, but Bentley's father disinherited him for marrying a stage performer. So Bentley deserted his wife the night Eve was born, leaving the young mother penniless, and their nurse Matilde raised the girl after her mother died. When the old nurse falls ill, Eve gets a job in a cafe selling flowers to raise money to help the nurse. There she meets Victor Austin who makes advances towards her, but she manages to escape from him. When she returns home, she finds the nurse dead. Eve discovers some old letters that she thinks could aid her in locating her deadbeat father. Along the way, she is robbed of her ticket and all of her money and joins up with a theatrical troupe who feel sorry for her. The star of the company, James Gordon, falls in love with her, but she learns that he is married and runs away. Gordon later receives an important offer from the New York stage. Meanwhile Eve manages to find her father Bentley who has since come into great wealth. He plans to force Eve to marry the loutish Victor Austin, but then Eve learns that Gordon's wife, who never really loved him, has died. Gordon is now free to remarry. Eve travels to New York and finds Gordon at the New York theatre where they are happily reunited.

Cast

* Pauline Bush in a dual role as both Eve and Eve's mother *

as Bentley, Eve's deadbeat father * Tom Forman as the loutish Victor Austin *

as James Gordon * Laura Oakley *

Betty Schade Betty Schade (born Frida Feddersen; March 27, 1895 – March 27, 1982) was a German-born American actress of the silent era. She appeared in about 135 films between 1913 and 1921. Schade was born in Geestemünde (Bremerhaven), Germany and ...

Beatrice Van Beatrice Van (born Beatrice Abbott; August 8, 1890 – July 4, 1983) was an American silent film actress. She was also a screenwriter for both silent and sound films. Biography Beatrice was born to Joseph and Beatrice Abbott in Omaha, Nebraska ...

* William C. Dowlan * Helen Wright

Reception

"This story is slightly too complicated to make a good picture and too much time is covered. The ending is abrupt and one is left to speculate upon the final outcome."—Motion Picture News "This offering is peculiar in construction, and while not uninteresting, contains much of a semi-morbid character. It lacks bright, attractive scenes and is brought to a very abrupt close. The acting and photography are good."—Moving Picture World

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0004227, title=Lights and Shadows 1914 films 1914 drama films 1914 lost films 1914 short films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films American black-and-white films English-language drama short films Films directed by Joseph De Grasse Lost American drama films Lost drama short films Lost silent American films Lost silent short films Silent American drama short films Universal Pictures short films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links