''The Right to Love'' is a 1920 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

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and Film producer, producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940 ...

. It stars

Mae Murray Mae Murray (born Marie Adrienne Koenig; May 10, 1885 – March 23, 1965) was an American actress, dancer, film producer, and screenwriter. Murray rose to fame during the silent film era and was known as "The Girl with the Bee-Stung Lips" and "Th ...

, David Powell and

Holmes Herbert Holmes Herbert (born Horace Edward Jenner; 30 July 1882 – 26 December 1956) was an English character actor who appeared in Hollywood films from 1915 to 1952, often as a British gentleman. Early life Born Horace Edward Jenner, (some sour ...

. The film is based on the French novel ''L'Homme qui assassina'', by

Claude Farrère Claude Farrère (), pseudonym of Frédéric-Charles Bargone (; 27 April 1876, in Lyon – 21 June 1957, in Paris), was a French Navy officer and writer. Many of his novels are based in exotic locations such as Istanbul, Saigon, or Nagasaki. On ...

and the play of the same name by

Pierre Frondaie Pierre Frondaie (born Albert René Fraudet; 25 April 1884 – 25 September 1948) was a French poet, novelist, and playwright. Biography Pierre Frondaie – né Albert René Fraudet – was born in 1884 in Paris to an upper-middle-class family. ...

. Location shooting for the film was done in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

and the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral island, coral cay archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami a ...

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 ...

, summoned in her desperation to help her in her anguish at the threatened separation from her child, American soldier Colonel Richard Loring (Powell) is witness to the blackguard conspiracy of Lord Archibald Falkland (Herbert) to dishonor his wife. Lady Falkland (Murray) married the English ambassador to Turkey to satisfy her father's greed for wealth, and was a youthful sweetheart of Loring's in America. Their romance was shattered by her enforced marriage to the Ambassador, who insists on keeping in their home in Constantinople his mistress Lady Edith (Tell), an English woman. These two plot the compromise of the wife in a situation with Prince Cerniwicz (Harlam) and her separation from her boy Little Archibald (Johnson), and the outcome is the murder of Lord Falkland by the Colonel. Because of a remembered obligation, a Turkish nobleman (Losee) throws the guilt from Loring and the two lovers are reunited.

Cast

as Lady Falkland * David Powell as Colonel Richard Loring *

as Lord Archibald Falkland *

Alma Tell Alma Tell (March 27, 1898 – December 29, 1937) was an American stage and motion picture actress whose career in cinema began in 1915 and lasted into the sound films of the early 1930s. Early years Tell was born in New York City, the youn ...

as Lady Edith *

Frank Losee Frank Losee (June 12, 1856 – November 14, 1937) was an American stage and screen actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage he began in silent films in 1915. Often he played the father of Mary Pickford, Pauline Frederick and Marguerite Clark. C ...

as Marshal to the Sultan *

Macey Harlam Macey Harlam (April 27, 1873 – June 17, 1923) was a stage and screen actor from New York. He performed on Broadway from 1901 to 1918 before switching to silent films, silent films. In films he appeared with Pauline Frederick, Douglas Fairbanks ...

as Prince Stanislaus Cerniwicz *

Marcia Harris Marcia Harris (born February 14, 1868 – June 18, 1947) was an American actress. She appeared in 48 films between 1915 and 1932. As an amateur, Harris acted primarily in male lead roles with the Chelsea Club theatrical organization in Bos ...

as Governess *Lawrence Johnson as Little Archibald

Preservation

A complete print of ''The Right to Love'' is held by the

EYE Filmmuseum Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

References

External links

*
''Right to Love'' at ThoughtEquity
1920 films 1920 drama films Silent American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Famous Players-Lasky films Films based on French novels American films based on plays Films directed by George Fitzmaurice Paramount Pictures films Films based on adaptations Films with screenplays by Ouida Bergère 1920s American films Films based on works by Claude Farrère 1920s English-language films {{1920s-US-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Preservation

See also

References

External links