''The Crowded Hour'' is a 1925 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 E. Mason Hopper and starring

Bebe Daniels Phyllis Virginia "Bebe" () Daniels (January 14, 1901 – March 16, 1971) was an American actress, singer, dancer, writer, and producer. She began her career in Hollywood during the silent film era as a child actress, became a star in musicals s ...

. It was produced by

Famous Players–Lasky The 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 Companyoriginally formed by Zukor as Famous Players in Famous Playsan ...

and distributed by

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

. It is based on the 1918 Broadway play, ''The Crowded Hour'', by Channing Pollock and

Edgar Selwyn Edgar Selwyn (October 20, 1875 – February 13, 1944) was an American actor, playwright, director and producer on Broadway. A prominent figure in American theatre and film in the first half of the 20th century, he founded a theatrical pr ...

Plot

As described in a film magazine review, Peggy and her pal Matt Wilde are performers in a "Follies" act when Billy Laidlaw sees her and falls in love with her despite the fact that he is already married. When

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

comes, Peggy and her partner become "Y" entertainers in France where she meets Billy. Billy later starts for an ammunition dump, planning to destroy it before the Germans reach it. Peggy is working as a

switchboard operator In the early days of telephony, companies used manual telephone switchboards, and switchboard operators connected calls by inserting a pair of phone plugs into the appropriate jacks. They were gradually phased out and replaced by automated syste ...

when she finds it a question of saving Billy or a platoon of French soldiers, she chooses the latter. Billy is then captured. Peggy is later blinded during an attack, and then discovers that her nurse is Billy's wife Grace. Peggy stoically resolves to forget Billy and make amends with her partner Matt.

Cast

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Crowded Hour'' located in any film archives, it is 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. ...

.''The Crowded Hour'' at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: ''Paramount Pictures'' - 1925
Retrieved November 18, 2022. Crowded Hour lobby card

References

External links

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Lobby posterLantern slide
(archived) American silent feature films Lost American drama films Films directed by E. Mason Hopper American films based on plays Paramount Pictures films 1925 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films 1925 lost films 1920s American films Films with screenplays by John Russell (screenwriter) American World War I films Films set in France 1920s English-language films {{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub