On the Banks of the Wabash (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = On the Banks of the Wabash

| image = On the Banks of the Wabash lobby card.jpg

| caption = Lobby card

| director = J. Stuart Blackton

| producer = Albert E. Smith

| writer = Elaine Sterne Carrington

| starring = Mary Carr
Madge Evans
Burr McIntosh

| music =

| cinematography = Nicholas Musuraca

| editing =

| distributor = Vitagraph Studios

| released = {{film date|1923|10|22}}

| runtime = 70 minutes

| country = United States

| language = Silent (English intertitles)

}}

On the Banks of the Wabash is a 1923 American silent rural melodrama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and produced and distributed by his movie company, Vitagraph Studios. The film stars Mary Carr and among the cast are 14-year-old Madge Evans and James W. Morrison. The cameraman was Nicholas Musuraca. The film is very loosely based on Paul Dresser's song / poem "On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away".[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/O/OnTheBanksOfTheWabash1923.html Progressive Silent Film List: On the Banks of the Wabash] at silentera.com The film focuses on David Hammond (Morrison), who, spurred by invention, leaves his sweetheart Lisbeth (Evans), but returns to find her love unchanged amidst a crisis, ultimately leading to a joyous reunion.{{Cite web |last=AFI |date=2013-10-21 |title=On the Banks of the Wabash |url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=11101 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021031600/http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=11101 |archive-date=2013-10-21 |access-date=2024-02-12 |website=afi.com}}

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Mary Carr as Anne Bixler
Burr McIntosh as "Cap" Hammond
James W. Morrison as David
Lumsden Hare as Paul Bixler
Mary MacLaren as Yvonne
Madge Evans as Lisbeth
George Neville as Sash Brown
Marcia Harris as Tilda Spiffen
Edward Roseman as Westerley Spiffen

}}

Production

In an interview from the book "Silent Players" by Anthony Slide, director J. Stuart Blackton's daughter recalled the collaboration with actor James W. Morrison, saying that Morrison "last played for my father in a ghastly film we made in the flatbush studio about 1923. On the Banks of the Wabash. It was so earthy you could smell it. Not a nice smell really."{{Cite book |last=Slide |first=Anthony |title=Silent Players |publisher=University Press of Kentucky |year=2002 |isbn=9780813122496 |pages=253}}

Preservation

Reportedly, a private collector holds an abridged, or shortened, version of this film.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.7964/default.html The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: On the Banks of the Wabash]