''Seven Sinners'' is a 1925 American

black-and-white Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...

silent

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

Lewis Milestone Lewis Milestone (born Leib Milstein (Russian: Лейб Мильштейн); September 30, 1895 – September 25, 1980) was an American film director. Milestone directed '' Two Arabian Knights'' (1927) and '' All Quiet on the Western Front'' (1 ...

and written by Milestone and

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (; September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. Best known as a co-founder of 20th Century Fox, he played a ...

. The film was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. Although Milestone had directed short training films for the U.S. War Department in 1918 and 1919, and acted as

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

on the 1921

William A. Seiter William Alfred Seiter (June 10, 1890 – July 26, 1964) was an American film director. Life and career Seiter was born in New York City. After attending Hudson River Military Academy, Seiter broke into films in 1915 as a bit player at Mack Senn ...

film ''The Foolish Age'', this was his

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

directorial debut.

Plot

Burglars Molly Brian (

Marie Prevost Marie Prevost (born Mary Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films. Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was discove ...

) and Joe Hagney (John Patrick) break into the Vickers mansion on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

and loot the safe but are caught in the act by another crook, Jerry Winters (

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the Unit ...

), who takes the money from them. The three are confronted by Pious Joe McDowell (

Claude Gillingwater Claude Benton Gillingwater (August 2, 1870 – November 1, 1939) was an American stage and screen actor. He first appeared on the stage then in more than 90 films between 1918 and 1939, including the Academy Award-nominated ''A Tale of Two ...

) and his wife Mamie (

Mathilde Brundage Mathilde Brundage (September 22, 1859 – May 6, 1939) was an American actress. She appeared in 87 films between 1914 and 1928. Also known as Bertha Brundage, she was born in Louisville, Kentucky. For much of her life, her family thwarted her des ...

), also crooks, but who assert themselves as friends of the Vickers family. Molly, Joe, and Jerry introduce themselves in turn as Vickers' household servants. A doctor (

Dan Mason Dan Mason (born Daniel Grassman; February 9, 1857 – July 6, 1929) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films from 1913 to 1929. He is remembered as the "Skipper" in the "Toonerville Folks ''Toonerville Folks'' ( ''T ...

) arrives with his patient (

Heinie Conklin Heinie Conklin (born Charles John Conklin; July 16, 1880July 30, 1959) was an American actor and comedian whose career began in the silent film era. Early years Conklin was born Charles John Conklin on July 16, 1880, in San Francisco, Califor ...

) and quarantines the house. Unknown to the first five, the Doctor and patient are also crooks who use the ruse of a "quarantine" as part of their own methodology. During the brief quarantine, Molly ends up falling in love with Jerry and the two pledge to go straight. When the police (

Fred Kelsey Frederick Alvin Kelsey (August 20, 1884 – September 2, 1961) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. Kelsey directed one- and two-reel films for Universal Film Manufacturing Company. He appeared in more than 400 films betw ...

) finally arrive, Pious Joe takes responsibility for the robbery so that Molly and Jerry can escape.

Cast

as Molly Brian *

as Jerry Winters * John Patrick as Handsome Joe Hagney *

as Scarlet Fever Sanders *

as Pious Joe McDowell *

as Mamie McDowell *

as Doctor *

as Policeman

Contemporary reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote the idea "has been worked out in an interesting fashion, with disappointing penitence as a closing touch," and that "picture is quite diverting, and it would have been even better if the humor were lighter in some sequences and if a touch of satire had been included at the finish."

Legacy

Preservation status

The film was presumed lost when Jack Warner destroyed many of its negatives in December 1948 due to nitrate decomposition of pre-1933 films, but an announcement was made in May 2015 of its rediscovery in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, by lost film hunter Joel Archer. ''Seven Sinners'' was preserved by the

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

in 2017. The restored version of ''Seven Sinners'' was shown in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, on February 19, 2017. Seven Sinners 1925 Ages 12+ , Free
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References

External links

*
''Seven Sinners''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* {{Lewis Milestone 1925 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films directed by Lewis Milestone Warner Bros. films Films set in New York (state) 1920s crime comedy films 1920s rediscovered films 1925 directorial debut films 1920s comedy mystery films Rediscovered American films Surviving American silent films 1920s English-language films 1920s American films Silent American crime comedy films Silent American comedy mystery films English-language crime comedy films English-language comedy mystery films