| Director: | Henry King |
|---|---|
| Production: | Samuel Goldwyn Productions
|
| Running Time: | 110’ |
| Language: | English |
| Country: | USA |
| Year: | 1925 |
| Main Cast: | Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Alice Joyce |
| Screenplay: | Frances Marion |
| Cinematographer: | Arthur Edeson |
| Editor: | Stuart Heisler |
| Costume Designer: | Sophie Wachner |
| Music: | Herman Rosen |
| Restoration: | The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Film Foundation |
| From the novel of the same name by: | Olive Higgins Prouty |
|---|---|
| Laboratories: | Cineric Colorlab |
Stella Dallas, the working-class mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice for her socially ambitious daughter, became one of the most resonant figures in American culture from the moment Olive Higgins Prouty’s novel appeared in 1923. A stage adaptation soon followed, as did this film version in 1925 (the first of three). Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by Henry King, the film is a powerful indictment of the rigid class barriers then emerging in the prosperous, postwar America of the 1920s, but the emotional center of the film is Stella (a brilliant portrayal by Belle Bennett, one of 73 actresses tested for the role), who marries ‘above her station’ (to a temporarily embarrassed banker’s son), but is unable to adapt her dress and behavior to bourgeois standards of her new husband. When her daughter becomes engaged to a fashionable country-clubber, Stella’s dilemma becomes painfully clear: Only by leaving her life can she ensure her daughter’s happiness.
The genius of this filmed Stella Dallas is that it captures the poignancy of watching life from the dark of the auditorium, but its emotional reach is so strong that even from the back of the balcony, we are immersed in the story. [...] Stella Dallas is one of silent Hollywood’s finest moments, and key to its success is Frances Marion, the woman who wrote its sophisticated screenplay. Marion takes the events of the novel, which are jumbled by flashbacks to create the drama of suspense and revelation, and straightens them out into a flowing narrative that begins in a garden in spring and ends on a city street in the cold. She also takes a few discreet liberties, rearranging scenes and editing them slightly to emphasise the agonies that plague Stella and her daughter Laurel. And the film is beautifully directed by Henry King, who tells the story visually, exploring the novel’s concern for appearances both contrived and mistaken, but who also coaxes excellent performances from his cast.
Pamela Hutchinson
PRODUCTION: Samuel Goldwyn Productions
RESTORATION CURATED BY: Katie Trainor, Dave Kehr – The Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street
10019 – New York, United States of America
Tel. +1 2127089792
sean_egan@moma.org
LABORATORY: Cineric, Colorlab
WORLD SALES: Sean Egan – The Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art
10019 – New York, United States of America
Tel. +1 2127089792
sean_egan@moma.org
http://www.moma.org
ITALIAN DISTRIBUTION: Sean Egan – The Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art
10019 – New York, United States of America
Tel. +1 2127089792
sean_egan@moma.org
http://www.moma.org
PRESS OFFICE: Dave Kehr – The Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street
10019 – New York, United States of America
Tel. +1 2127089612
