Slave of Desire
{{short description|1923 film}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Slave of Desire
| image = Slave of Desire lobby card 3.jpg
| caption = Lobby card
| director = George D. Baker
| producer = Samuel Goldwyn
Gilbert E. Gable
| writer = Alice D. G. Miller (adaptation)
Charles W. Whittaker (scenario)
| based_on = {{basedon|La Peau de chagrin|Honoré de Balzac}}
| starring = George Walsh
Bessie Love
Carmel Myers
| music =
| cinematography = John W. Boyle
| editing =
| studio = Goldwyn Pictures
| distributor = Goldwyn Pictures
| released = {{Film date|1923|10|14|U.S.|ref1={{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_15|page=[https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_15/page/62 62]|title=Motion Picture News Booking Guide|date=April 1924|location=New York|publisher=Motion Picture News}}}}
| runtime = 7 reels; 6,673 feet
| country = United States
| language = Silent (English intertitles)
}}
Slave of Desire (originally titled The Magic Skin){{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_3/page/1030|magazine=Motion Picture News|date=September 1, 1923|title=Goldwyn Changes Titles on Two Features}} is a 1923 American silent drama film directed by George D. Baker, produced and distributed by Goldwyn Pictures.{{cite book |last=Love |first=Bessie |year=1977 |title=From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love |location=London |publisher=Elm Tree Books |oclc=734075937 |page=87}} It was based on the novel La Peau de chagrin{{efn|The French title La Peau de Chagrin translates to The Skin of Sorrow, but the novel was retitled The Magic Skin for the English language editions.}} by Honoré de Balzac, first published in 1831. The Balzac novel had previously been filmed in 1909 as The Wild Ass's Skin, which was more faithful to the original novel.{{cite book|last1=Workman|first1=Christopher|last2=Howarth|first2=Troy|date=2016|title=Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era|publisher=Midnight Marquee Press|page=269|isbn=978-1-936168-68-2}}
The picture stars George Walsh, Bessie Love, and Carmel Myers. A print of the film is preserved in the collection of Cinémathèque Française.{{cite web|url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.502/default.html |title=Slave of Desire / George D Baker [motion picture]|accessdate=November 9, 2014|website= Library of Congress – Performing Arts Encyclopedia}}{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/S/SlaveOfDesire1923.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: Slave of Desire|accessdate=November 9, 2014|website=Silent Era|last=Bennett|first=Carl|date=23 July 2006}}
Plot
In Paris, when failed poet Raphael, Marquis de Valentin (Walsh) meets the glamorous Countess Fedora (Myers), who promotes Raphael as a poet. He falls in love with her, but she rejects him.
When he is about to commit suicide by jumping into the Seine, Raphael enters an antique shop where he gets a magic piece of leather that can grant wishes. As it grants wishes, the leather becomes smaller. Raphael selfishly uses the wishes for himself, but uses the final wish benevolently, which enables him to be reunited with his true love, Pauline (Love). Countess Fedora is buried under an avalanche.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/movpicwor65movi/page/n491|last=Sewell|first=C.S.|magazine=Moving Picture World|page=632|date=December 15, 1923|title=Slave of Desire|volume=65|issue=7}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_3/page/2014|magazine=Motion Picture News|page=2015|date=October 27, 1923|last=Elliott|first=Frank|title=Pre-Release Reviews of Features|volume=28|issue=17}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/filmdaily2526newy/page/n1107|page=10|magazine=The Film Daily|date=December 16, 1923|title=Reviews of the Newest Features|volume=26|issue=64}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald17exhi/page/n587|page=59|title=Reviews|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|date=November 3, 1923|volume=17|issue=19}}{{cite book|title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1921–1930|editor-last=Munden|editor-first=Kenneth W.|publisher=R.R. Bowker Company|location=New York|date=1971|oclc=664500075|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer/page/732 732]|url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer|url-access=registration}}
Cast
{{castlist|
- George Walsh as Raphael, Marquis de Valentin
- Bessie Love as Pauline Gaudin
- Carmel Myers as Countess Fedora
- Wally Van as Restignac
- Edward Connelly as The Antiquarian
- Eulalie Jensen as Mrs. Gaudin
- Herbert Prior as Mr. Gaudin
- William Orlamond as Champrose
- Nick De Ruiz as Tallifer
- William von Hardenburg as The General
- Harmon MacGregor as Emilie
- George Periolat as The Duke
- Harry Lorraine as Finot
- Calvert Carter as The Major Domo
}}
Reception
The film received mixed reviews, with many reviewers noted the fanciful plot and subject matter as a hindrance to the film's success.{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/filmdaily2526newy/page/n1101|magazine=The Film Daily|title=Newspaper Criticisms on New Films|date=December 16, 1923|page=4|volume=26|issue=64}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/pictu78odha/page/n189|magazine=Pictures and Picturegoer|date=March 1924|page=62|title=Picturegoer's Guide|volume=7|issue=39}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_5/page/n263|magazine=Motion Picture News|page=258|title=Exhibitors Service Bureau|date=January 19, 1924|volume=29|issue=3}}{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_5/page/n499|title=The Check-Up|magazine=Motion Picture News|date=February 2, 1924|page=495|volume=29|issue=5}}
Carmel Myers's performance was especially highly praised, as were the visuals, especially Myers's wardrobe.
References
;Notes
{{notelist}}
;Citations
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Slave of Desire}}
- {{IMDb title|0014483}}
- {{AFI film|12195}}
- [http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/slave-desire-goldwyn-cosmopolitan-19791399 Lobby card]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20171222051558/http://silenthollywood.com/slaveofdesire1923.html Stills] at silenthollywood.com
{{Samuel Goldwyn}}
{{La Peau de chagrin}}
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Silent American drama films
Category:American silent feature films
Category:Films based on La Peau de chagrin
Category:Films directed by George D. Baker
Category:Surviving American silent films
{{1920s-silent-drama-film-stub}}