''The Destroying Angel'' is a 1923 American silent

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

W.S. Van Dyke Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke II (March 21, 1889 – February 5, 1943) was an American film director who made several early sound films, including '' Tarzan the Ape Man'' in 1932, ''The Thin Man'' in 1934, ''San Francisco'' in 1936, and six popular ...

and starring

Leah Baird Leah Baird (born Ada Frankenstein; June 20, 1883 – October 3, 1971) was an American actress and screenwriter. Life Baird was born in Champaign County, Illinois. on June 20, 1883, the daughter of William Frankenstein and Bertha Schreiver Frank ...

, John Bowers and

Noah Beery Noah Nicholas Beery (January 17, 1882 – April 1, 1946) was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of characte ...

.Munden p.183 The film is based on

Louis Joseph Vance Louis Joseph Vance (September 19, 1879 – December 16, 1933) was an American novelist, screenwriter and film producer. He created the popular character Michael Lanyard, a criminal-turned-detective known as the Lone Wolf. Early life Louis J ...

's 1912 novel of the same name.

Plot

Cast

as Mary Miller / Saraa Law * John Bowers as Hugh Miller Whittaker *

as Curtis Drummond *

Ford Sterling Ford Sterling (born George Stitch; November 3, 1883 – October 13, 1939) was an American comedian and actor best known for his work with Keystone Studios. One of the 'Big 4', he was the original chief of the Keystone Cops. Early years Sterli ...

as Max Weil * Mitchell Lewis as 'Strangler' Olsen *

Philip Sleeman Philip, also Phillip, is a male name derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularized the n ...

as Kidnapper

Preservation

With no prints of ''The Destroying Angel'' located in any film archives, it is considered 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. ...

References

Bibliography

* Munden, Kenneth White. ''The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1''. University of California Press, 1997.

External links

* 1923 films 1923 lost films 1923 comedy films 1920s English-language films American silent feature films Silent American comedy films American black-and-white films Films directed by W. S. Van Dyke Associated Exhibitors films 1920s American films English-language comedy films {{Silent-comedy-film-stub