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The Woman in White (1929 film)

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The Woman in White
Directed byHerbert Wilcox
Written byRobert Cullen
Herbert Wilcox
Based onThe Woman in White
1860 novel
by Wilkie Collins
Produced byHerbert Wilcox
StarringBlanche Sweet
Haddon Mason
Cecil Humphreys
Louise Prussing
CinematographyDavid Kesson
Edited byHarry Chandlee
Production
company
Distributed byWoolf & Freedman Film Service
Release dates
  • January 1929 (1929-01) (UK)
  • 24 May 1929 (1929-05-24) (US)
Running time
67 minutes[1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguagesSilent
English intertitles

The Woman in White is a 1929 British silent mystery film directed by Herbert Wilcox (whose main career was as a producer)[2] and starring Blanche Sweet, Haddon Mason and Cecil Humphreys.[2] It was written by Robert Cullen and Herbert Wilcox, based on the 1859 mystery novel The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.[2]

The film was made at Cricklewood Studios in London and was the first British film version of the novel. Some sources disagree on whether the film was actually made in England or in Scotland, however.[2]

Plot

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A recently married heiress named Laura Fairlie keeps seeing visions of a woman in white around her estate. Laura is unaware that her husband Sir Percival Glyde is plotting to steal her inheritance. Her sister Marion learns of the plot, but falls ill before she can warn Laura. When Marion recovers from her illness, she learns that Laura has died and has been buried. Laura's old boyfriend Walter Hartwright discovers however that Laura isn't really dead. It seems Laura had a lookalike (the woman in white) who actually died, and Laura's husband had Laura committed to an insane asylum and pretended that it was she who died.

Cast

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Production

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The film's art direction was by Clifford Pember. Blanche Sweet played the dual role of both Laura (the heiress) and her lookalike (the woman in white).[2]

Other Versions

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Several silent versions were made, one in 1912 and one by Fox in 1917 entitled Tangled Lives. Another 1917 silent version was filmed by Thanhouser and starred Florence La Badie, which still survives in the Library of Congress. It was remade again in England in 1940 as a horror film called Crimes at the Dark House (starring Tod Slaughter), and remade yet again in 1948.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Low p.481
  2. ^ a b c d e f Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era. Midnight Marquee Press. p. 349. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.

Bibliography

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  • Low, Rachael. History of the British Film, 1918-1929. George Allen & Unwin, 1971.
  • Wood, Linda. British Films, 1927-1939. British Film Institute, 1986.
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