Blind Wives
{{short description|1920 film by Charles Brabin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{infobox film
| name = Blind Wives
| image = Marc McDermott-Estelle Taylor in Blind Wives.jpg
| caption = Movie poster with Marc McDermott and Estelle Taylor
| director = Charles Brabin
(as Charles J. Brabin)
| producer = William Fox
| writer = Charles J. Brabin (scenario)
| based_on = {{based on|My Lady's Dress|Edward Knoblock}}
| starring = Marc McDermott
Estelle Taylor
| music =
| cinematography = George W. Lane
| editing =
| distributor = Fox Film Corporation
| released = {{Film date|1920|12|19}}
| runtime = 9 reels
| country = United States
| language = Silent (English intertitles)
}}
Blind Wives is a 1920 American silent drama film produced and distributed by Fox Film Corporation and directed by Charles Brabin. The film reunites director Brabin with the stars of his previous success While New York Sleeps, Marc McDermott and Estelle Taylor. The film is based on a 1914 Broadway stage play by Edward Knoblock, My Lady's Dress which starred Mary Boland. This film survives in prints held by George Eastman House and by the Library of Congress.[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/B/BlindWives1920.html Progressive Silent Film List: Blind Wives] at the silentera.com[http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=8050 My Lady's Dress, the play upon which Blind Wives is based, as produced on Broadway at the Playhouse Theatre, October 10, 1914 to November 1914; IBDb.com]
Plot
As summarized in a film publication,{{cite journal |title=Blind Wives: Will Satisfy But Doesn't Match Up With Recent Fox Specials |journal=Film Daily |volume=15 |issue=7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/filmdailyvolume11516newy/page/14 14] |publisher=Wyd's Films and Film Folks, Inc. |location=New York City |date=January 9, 1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/filmdailyvolume11516newy |accessdate=March 5, 2014}} the film shows through a dream sequence the various tragedies and hardships endured by those who make fancy dresses.
Anne's passion is clothes, but her husband closes her account at Jacquelin's. In a pique she goes to sleep and dreams, while her new dress with its flower design is draped over a chair. In the first episode, a crippled girl named Annie makes the flowers, and finally sells her wonderful hair and then goes away so that she will not stand in the way of her sister's happiness. The second episode shows the unhappy Russian story of the sable which decorates the gown, with a trapper coming home to discover that his wife is unfaithful. The third story involves Annette and her husband Nicolas, a weaver who is dying. Annette tries unsuccessfully to work the loom, but is saved by the arrival of an old sweetheart Johnny, who comes to her rescue. The last episode involves a mannequin (clothing shop worker?) who fights to maintain her reputation, and eventually kills the manager of the establishment when he tries to keep her away from her dying mother. Anne then awakens, cured of her passion for clothes and happy with her husband once more.
Cast
- Marc McDermott as Husband
- Estelle Taylor as Anne / Annie / Annette
- Harry Southern as Johnny
unbilled
- Annette Bracy as The Maid
- Sally Crute as Business Woman
- Robert Schable as Charles
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Blind Wives}}
- {{IMDb title|0011002}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20130720061946/http://silenthollywood.com/blindwives1920.html Poster] at silenthollywood.com
{{Charles Brabin}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blind Wives}}
Category:American silent feature films
Category:American films based on plays
Category:Films directed by Charles Brabin
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Silent American drama films