Triumph (1917) Online

Triumph is the story of a woman who wants to become a famous actress. She begins doing local work in parks, but one day gets a break to perform on the stage. She is the new flavor of the week, and a fellow actress recommends that she string along the producer without ever actually giving in to his whims to maintain her status as the number one girl. This backfires when he finds out about her amorous relationship with a struggling writer (Lon Chaney) and her dreams lie on shaky ground.

Very little of this film exists, which could contribute to why it is so hard to watch, but it could also be a blessing in disguise. Better melodramatic tripe like this to be lost than a masterpiece like The Unknown or The Penalty.

I saw what is left of this film screened at Cinevent in 2014 and while I am always glad to see rare films, this one isn't worth reviving.

That TRIUMPH exists in any form is a testament to the enduring interest in its second-billed player, Lon Chaney. It's the melodramatic story of Dorothy Phillips, who longs to be an actress on the legitimate stage. She gains a foothold in Dudley Weyman's company, and soon falls in love with Chaney, a sickly, but aspiring playwright. She convinces Weyman to produce Chaney's play so she can have her triumph, but when Weyman catches them rehearsing a romantic clinch for the show, he stops the production and tells her he will only let the premiere proceed if she will submit to his embraces,

Boo! Hiss! The movie was originally five reels, but the final two reels are missing. Those that survive appear to be standard-issue material from Universal in this period, when it was the busiest studio in the world, and truly a movie factory, turning out five-reel melodramas on a tight budget and schedule. Miss Phillips' performance seems rote, if competent. Mr. Chaney's seems to be a precursor to many of the roles he would play in the late 1920s for MGM; although here he is young enough for the leading lady to fall in love with, he is too ill to be sexually threatening to anyone except the other actors, particularly the pudgy and rapacious Mr. Weyman. It's a movie that fans of Mr. Chaney will want to see, yet, having seen it, will not be honestly feel it adds anything important to the corpus of his work.