The Idol Dancer

1920 film by D. W. Griffith

March 21, 1920 (1920-03-21)

Running time

104 minutes
92 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)Budget$93,000^[1]Box office$963,000^[1]

The Idol Dancer

The Idol Dancer is a 1920 American silent South Seas drama film produced and directed by D. W. Griffith. It stars Richard Barthelmess and Clarine Seymour in her final film role. Seymour was a young actress Griffith was grooming for stardom. She died of pneumonia shortly after emergency surgery for an intestinal blockage on April 24, 1920, less than a month after the film premiered.^[2]^[3]

The film is based on the story "Blood of the Covenants" by Gordon Ray Young. The scenario was written by Stanner E. V. Taylor.^[4]

Plot

Mary (Seymour) is the daughter of a French man and a Javanese mother and enjoys dancing. She has two lovers. One is a beachcomber named Barthelmess, who was tossed off a passing ship for failing to work and only seeks to drink gin. The other, named Hale, is a sickly young American who came to the island in hopes of regaining his health and is staying with his missionary uncle, named MacQuarrie, and his wife, named Bruce.

While on the island, natives from a neighboring island attack. The beachcomber reforms, and Mary comes to love him.^[5]

Cast

Richard Barthelmess as Dan McGuire, a beachcomber
Clarine Seymour as Mary
Creighton Hale as Walter Kincaid
George MacQuarrie as Reverend Franklyn Blythe
Kate Bruce as Mrs. Blythe
Porter Strong as Reverend Peter
Anders Randolf as The Blackbirder
Walter James as Chief Wando
Thomas Carr as Donald Blythe
Herbert Sutch as Old Thomas
Adolph Lestina as Black Slave
Ben Grauer as Native Boy
Walter Kolomoku as Native Musician
Florence Short as Pansy

Production

Griffith filmed exteriors for The Idol Dancer simultaneously with The Love Flower, including filming in Nassau, Bahamas in December 1919 and in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1920.^[6]^[7]

Status

A 35mm print of the film is preserved by the Cohen Media Group. 16mm prints of the film are held in private collections.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b "Griffith's 20 Year Record". Variety. September 5, 1928. p. 12. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Progressive Silent Film List: The Idol Dancer at silentera.com
^ Vazzana, Eugene Michael (2001). Silent Film Necrology (2 ed.). McFarland. p. 479. ISBN 0-786-41059-0.
^ Slide, Anthony (2012). D. W. Griffith: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. XXXII. ISBN 978-1-617-03298-1.
^ "The Idol Dancer: Feature Entertains, but Will Not Impress". Motion Picture News. 21 (15). New York City: Motion Picture News, Inc.: 3169 April 3, 1920. Retrieved February 14, 2014.
^ Wagenknecht, Edward (2014). The Movies in the Age of Innocence (3 ed.). McFarland. p. 87. ISBN 978-1-476-61764-0.
^ (Slide 2012, p. XX)