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''Poor Relations'' is a 1919 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
King Vidor King Wallis Vidor ( ; February 8, 1894 – November 1, 1982) was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose 67-year film-making career successfully spanned the silent and sound eras. His works are distinguished by a vivid, ...
. Produced by the Brentwood Corporation, the film starred Vidor’s wife
Florence Vidor Florence Vidor (née Cobb, later Arto; July 23, 1895 – November 3, 1977) was an American silent film actress. Early life Vidor was born in Houston on July 23, 1895, to John and Ida Cobb. Her parents had married in Houston on March 3, 1894, bu ...
and featured comedienne
ZaSu Pitts ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...
. The picture is the final of four
Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...
precept films that represent a brief phase in Vidor’s output championing the superiority of self-healing through moral strength and supplemented by the benefits of rural living.


Plot

Country girl Dorothy Perkins succeeds as an architect in the city, but then is scorned by her old-money in-laws.


Cast

*
Florence Vidor Florence Vidor (née Cobb, later Arto; July 23, 1895 – November 3, 1977) was an American silent film actress. Early life Vidor was born in Houston on July 23, 1895, to John and Ida Cobb. Her parents had married in Houston on March 3, 1894, bu ...
as Dorothy Perkins *
Lillian Leighton Lillianne Brown Leighton (May 17, 1874 – March 19, 1956), known professionally as Lillian Leighton, was an American silent film actress. Leighton started her career in Chicago. Leighton was born in Auroraville, Wisconsin, on May 17, 187 ...
as Ma Perkins *
William De Vaull William De Vaull (December 12, 1870 – June 4, 1945) - also credited as William P. DeVaull - was an American film actor. He appeared in more than thirty films from 1915 to 1927. Filmography References External links * 1870 births ...
as Pa Perkins (as William Du Vaull) *
Roscoe Karns Roscoe Karns (September 7, 1891 – February 6, 1970) was an American actor who appeared in nearly 150 films between 1915 and 1964. He specialized in cynical, wise-cracking (and often tipsy) characters, and his rapid-fire delivery enlivened many ...
as Henry *
ZaSu Pitts ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...
as Daisy Perkins * Charles Meredith as Monty Rhodes


Reception

The reviews were "poor". '' Exhibitors Trade Review'' observed that "the slender, fragile story has just about all it can do to make its way through the new-mown hay atmosphere."


Theme

Poor Relations provides an early example of Vidor’s “feminist” presentation of professional and independent women, emphasizing reciprocal exchanges between the sexes.Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 15: Vidor a “natural feminist” in that his female protagonists “drive men crazy, or inspire them, and do what they want, without becoming superior beings.” and the “reciprocity etween men and womenconstitute its mainspring.”
Baxter 1976 p. 14: Baxter identifies The Real Adventure and Woman, Wake Up, both 1922, as early feminist cinema by Vidor.


Footnotes


References

*Baxter, John. 1976. ''King Vidor''. Simon & Schuster, Inc. Monarch Film Studies. LOC Card Number 75-23544. * Durgnat, Raymond and Simmon, Scott. 1988. ''King Vidor, American.'' University of California Press, Berkeley. * Gustafsson, Fredrik. 2016. ''King Vidor, An American Romantic'' La furia umana. LFU/28 Winter 2016. http://www.lafuriaumana.it/index.php/61-archive/lfu-28/548-fredrik-gustafsson-king-vidor-an-american-romantic Retrieved 4 June 2020.


External links

* {{King Vidor 1919 films Silent American drama films Films directed by King Vidor American silent feature films 1919 drama films American black-and-white films Film Booking Offices of America films 1910s American films 1910s English-language films English-language drama films