''The Wise Guy'' is a 1926 American silent

crime drama 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 or gangster film, but al ...

produced and directed by

Frank Lloyd Frank William George Lloyd (2 February 1886 – 10 August 1960) was a Scottish-American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He was among the founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and was its president from ...

and distributed through

First National Pictures First National Pictures was an American motion picture production and distribution company. It was founded in 1917 as First National Exhibitors' Circuit, Inc., an association of independent theatre owners in the United States, and became the count ...

Jules Furthman Jules Furthman (March 5, 1888 – September 22, 1966) was an American magazine and newspaper writer before working as a screenwriter. Pauline Kael once wrote that Furthman "has written about half of the most entertaining movies to come out of Hol ...

provided a screen story with scenario by Adela Rogers St. Johns.

Mary Astor Mary Astor (born Lucile Vasconcellos Langhanke; May 3, 1906 – September 25, 1987) was an American actress. Although her career spanned several decades, she may be best remembered for her performance as Brigid O'Shaughnessy in '' The Maltese ...

, James Kirkwood, and

Betty Compson Betty Compson (born Eleanor Luicime Compson; March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) was an American actress and film producer who got her start during Hollywood's silent era. She is best known for her performances in ''The Docks of New York'' and '' ...

star.

Plot

Cast

Reception

Because the Kirkwood character was a criminal posing as an evangelistic minister who performs marriage and burial ceremonies, the film was found by the New York Board of Censors to be

sacrilegious Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object, site or person. This can take the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical ...

and banned from distribution unless remade. The Board was also concerned by the number of times the name of the Deity appeared in subtitles spoken by the fake minister. First National estimated the cost of resolving the Board's issues to be an additional $50,000 above the initial cost of $175,000.

Preservation

Previously considered lost, a print of ''The Wise Guy'' is preserved at the

National Archives of Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. Th ...

.The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''The Wise Guy''
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References

External links

*
Lobby card
at gettyimages.com

at silentfilmstillarchive.com 1926 films 1926 crime drama films 1920s American films 1920s English-language films 1920s rediscovered films American black-and-white films American silent feature films English-language crime drama films Films directed by Frank Lloyd First National Pictures films Rediscovered American films Silent American crime drama films Surviving American silent films {{silent-crime-drama-film-stub