''Rent Free'' is a 1922 American silent comedy feature film produced by

Famous Players-Lasky Famous Players-Lasky Corporation was an American motion picture and distribution company formed on June 28, 1916, from the merger of Adolph Zukor's Famous Players Film Company—originally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Plays—and t ...

and distributed through

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 ...

. The film starred

Wallace Reid William Wallace Halleck Reid (April 15, 1891 – January 18, 1923) was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver. Early life Reid was born in St. Louis, ...

and his current regular co-star

Lila Lee Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras. Early life The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...

. It was directed by

Howard Higgin Howard Higgin (February 15, 1891 - December 16, 1938) was an American screenwriter, writer and film director, director of motion pictures in the 1920s and 1930s. Biography After graduating from the Pratt Institute, Higgin began working at the arc ...

and adapted by

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, ''Street Sce ...

from a story written directly for the screen by Izola Forrester and Mann Page. Currently this film is lost.The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Rent Free''
/ref> Reid plays the part of a young painter who moves into an abandoned house but is discovered by the daughter of its former owner. In real life Reid was a talented painter. This was Higgin's first film as a director.

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Buell Arnister Jr. (Reid) is a New York City artist cast off by his father Buell Arnister Sr. (Barrows) who had planned a legal career for him. Facing poverty and dispossessed by an irate landlady (Leighton), he moves his belongings including his dog to the roof of a 68th Street apartment building, and then becomes a squatter in a mansion that had a door to its roof left open. On a nearby roof he sees two young women, Barbara Teller (Lee) and her friend Justine Tate (Short), who similarly have been dispossessed. When a storm collapses the tent that the women were living in, the artist rescues them and takes them to the mansion, where they also become squatters. It develops that the mansion had been the property of Barbara's father. The stepmother (McDowell) has married the foreign Count de Mourney (Geldart) and they return home to discover the squatters, resulting in a series of funny conglomerations. The troubles are settled after finding a letter and will from the deceased father which take care of Barbara in a proper financial manner and everything is resolved in a happy ending, even for the disdainful stepmother.

Cast

as Buell Arnister Jr. *

as Barbara Teller * Henry A. Barrows as Buell Arnister Sr. *

Gertrude Short Carmen Gertrude Short (April 6, 1902 – July 31, 1968) was an American film actress of the silent and early sound era. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1912 and 1945. Biography Carmen Gertrude Short was born in Cincinnati, ...

as Justine Tate *

Lucien Littlefield Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...

as 'Batty' Briggs *

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 Maria Tebbs *

Claire McDowell Claire McDowell ( MacDowell; November 2, 1877 – October 23, 1966) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 350 films between 1908 and 1945. Early years Claire MacDowell was born in New York City on November 2, 1877, the ...

as Countess de Mourney * Clarence Geldart as Count de Mourney

References

External links

* * 1922 films American silent feature films Lost American films Famous Players-Lasky films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by Howard Higgin 1922 comedy films 1922 lost films Lost comedy films 1920s American films {{1920s-silent-comedy-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links