Erstwhile Susan

Erstwhile Susan is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by John S. Robertson, produced and distributed by Realart Pictures. It is based on a 1914 novel Barnabetta by Helen Reimensnyder Martin and later Broadway play Erstwhile Susan by Marian De Forest. Minnie Maddern Fiske starred in the Broadway play in 1916. This film version stars Mary Alden and Constance Binney, then an up-and-coming young actress. This film version, once thought to be lost, survives at the Museum of Modern Art.[1][2][3]

Erstwhile Susan
Film still l to r: Bradley Barker, Anders Randolf, George Renavent, Mary Alden
Directed byJohn S. Robertson
Shaw Lovett (assistant director)
Produced byRealart Pictures
Written byKathryn Stuart (writer)
Based onBarnabetta
by Helen Reimensnyder Martin
StarringConstance Binney
Mary Alden
CinematographyRoy Overbaugh
Distributed byRealart Pictures
Release date
  • November 16, 1919 (1919-11-16)
Running time
6 reels (1639.02 meters)
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Erstwhile Susan was the first film by Realart Films, Adolph Zukor's offshoot affiliate of his Famous Players-Lasky enterprise.

Plot

As described in an adoption in the November 1919 issue of the film magazine Shadowland,[4] Barnabetta (Constance Binney) dreams of furthering her education, but her Mennonite father Jacob (Bradley Barker) disapproves. Jacob later marries Erstwhile Susan (Mary Alden), who has money and changes the family relationships, and sends Barnabetta to college. After graduation, she helps David Jordan (Jere Austin) run for the Senate, who then professes his love for her.

Cast

Preservation

A copy of the film survives at the Museum of Modern Art. Erstwhile Susan is the only Constance Binney film that survives in a complete form.[5] All of her other work has been lost except for a single reel from First Love (1921).[5]

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References
  1. The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Film Institute, c. 1988
  2. Erstwhile Susan as produced on Broadway at the Gaiety Theatre, January 18, 1916 to June 1916, 167 performances; IBDb.com
  3. Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film actors and actresses; by Anthony Slide, pp. 21-24 c.2002
  4. Ward, Jane (November 1919). "Erstwhile Susan". Shadowland. New York: M. P. Publishing Co. 1 (3): 35–38, 67, 72.
  5. Slide, Anthony (2010). "Constance Binney". Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses. University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-2249-6.


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