The Dumb Girl of Portici is a 1916 American silent historical drama film directed by Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber and starring Anna Pavlova, Rupert Julian and Wadsworth Harris.[1] It was adapted by Weber from the libretto by Germain Delavigne and Eugène Scribe for Daniel Auber's 1828 opera La muette de Portici (The Mute of Portici). The film marked Pavlova's only feature film performance.
The Dumb Girl of Portici | |
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![]() Anna Pavlova (center foreground) | |
Directed by | Phillips Smalley Lois Weber |
Written by | Germain Delavigne (opera) Eugène Scribe (opera) Lois Weber |
Produced by | Carl Laemmle |
Starring | Anna Pavlova Rupert Julian Wadsworth Harris |
Cinematography | Dal Clawson Allen G. Siegler R.W. Walter |
Production company | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
Distributed by | Universal Film Manufacturing Company |
Release date |
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Running time | 112 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The film was one of the most expensive film made at a cost at approximately $300,000. The film was the first major film directed by a woman director in the early 1910s.[2]
Fenella (Anna Pavlova) is a poor Italian girl who falls in love with Duke d'Arcos (Wadsworth Harris), a Spanish nobleman.[3]
The film was released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2018 with a new score by John Sweeney.[4]