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The American Venus (1926) Online

The American Venus (1926) Online
Original Title :
The American Venus
Genre :
Movie / Comedy
Year :
1926
Directror :
Frank Tuttle
Cast :
Esther Ralston,Lawrence Gray,Ford Sterling
Writer :
Townsend Martin,Frederick Stowers
Type :
Movie
Time :
1h 20min
Rating :
7.6/10
The American Venus (1926) Online

Mary Gray, whose father manufactures cold cream, is engaged to sappy Horace Niles, the son of Hugo Niles, the elder Gray's most competitive rival in the cosmetics business. Chip Armstrong, a hot-shot public relations man, quits the employ of Hugo Niles and goes to work for Gray, persuading Mary to enter the Miss America contest at Atlantic City, with the intention of using her to endorse her father's cold cream should she win. Mary breaks her engagement with Horace. When it appears that she will win the contest, Hugo lures her home on the pretext that her father is ill, and she misses the contest. Chip and Mary return to Atlantic City, discovering that the new Miss America has told the world that she owes all her success to Gray's cold cream. On this note, Chip and Mary decide to get married.
Cast overview:
Esther Ralston Esther Ralston - Mary Gray
Lawrence Gray Lawrence Gray - Chip Armstrong
Ford Sterling Ford Sterling - Hugo Niles
Fay Lanphier Fay Lanphier - Miss Alabama
Louise Brooks Louise Brooks - Miss Bayport
Edna May Oliver Edna May Oliver - Mrs. Niles
Kenneth MacKenna Kenneth MacKenna - Horace Niles
William B. Mack William B. Mack - John Gray
George De Carlton George De Carlton - Sam Lorber
W.T. Benda W.T. Benda - Artist
Ernest Torrence Ernest Torrence - King Neptune
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. - Triton

This is currently a lost film, but the trailer survived and is one of the 50 films in the 3-disk boxed DVD set called "More Treasures from American Film Archives, 1894-1931" (2004), compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 5 American film archives. The trailer, tinted pink with some color footage, is preserved by the Library of Congress and has a running time of 2 minutes.

Among the many beauty queens featured in the film are the contestants from the 1925 Miss America pageant, as well as Miss Bay Bridge, Miss Birmingham, Miss Bronx, Miss Newark, Miss San Francisco and Miss Seattle.

Two trailers and some Technicolor footage survive in the Library of Congress.

This film originally contained 3 - 2-strip Technicolor sequences, totaling 1574 of its original 7931 feet, or about 20% of its footage. The first sequence depicts the Atlantic City beauty contestants on the Boardwalk, the second is a series of artistic tableaux, and the third a fashion revue.


User reviews

MegaStar

MegaStar

I saw two trailers for this film, both of them fascinating documents, restored to near-mint condition by the Library of Congress (their present home). The first was black and white, with a lot of attention payed to Fay Lanphier, the hazel-eyed, honey-blond beauty who had just be crowned Miss America 1925. A close-up of her is followed by a shot of Esther Ralston, but I initially thought it was another shot of her (they look so much alike). Briefly seen is a comedic bit where Louise Brooks is showing a man some undesired romantic interest.

The second trailer starts with giving the measurements of Venus di Milo, and asking the female half of the audience if they measure up. This trailer is tinted violet and contains some technicolor footage, two shots exactly, which apparently show the staging of 'tableaux vivants' (I should mention that W.T. Benda's only screen role appears to have made it down through the ages in one of these shots). There is a shot of a teary-eyed Lanphier, a repeated shot of Ralston flexing her arms in a bathing suit, and what appears to be the second half of the scene between Brooks and the man (it has to be Lawrence Gray). In this shot, he is trying to keep Brooks' presence in the room a secret from Edna Mae Oliver.

The presence of seventy-five beautiful women AND the latest fashions from Paris are highly stressed in both advertisements. Interestingly, nobody remembers Fay Lanphier today, but once Brooks flashes across the screen, the entire theater sounded with applause. One thing that struck me about Lanphier: not only is she beautiful (and photogenic) she seems to have been a decent actress as well. What went wrong? Unless the rest of the film surfaces, we are likely never to know.

Production values are great. Always happy to see some two-strip Technicolor, and the set- ups they exposed it too in 1926 were great. Maybe one day we'll see the whole thing, the way it was meant to be seen.
Jek

Jek

If only this gorgeous looking film can reappear intact. How could it have gone missing? It looks like a high profile enough film in its day, so it's a shame it somehow vanished.

At least we have the two trailers. I've seen one of them.

By the way, that's Ford Sterling, not Gray, in the scene with Brooks.

Many clips from rare films can be found on YouTube, which is a blessing for many of us who always hear about these films but can never find them otherwise.

Many "lost" films may only be in hiding, with perhaps one copy being in someone's collection; I can only hope that in time many longtime missing titles can reappear and be on view again. There's so much missing history from the silent days.