Three Faces East (1930 film)

Three Faces East is a 1930 American Pre-Code film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Constance Bennett and Erich von Stroheim. Produced by Daryl Zanuck and released by Warner Brothers it is based on a 1918 Broadway play about World War I spies, Three Faces East, by Anthony Paul Kelly.[1] It was filmed as a silent in 1926.[2] A later remake starred Boris Karloff and Margaret Lindsay in British Intelligence.

Three Faces East
theatrical releaseposter
Directed byRoy Del Ruth
Produced byDaryl Zanuck
Written byArthur Caesar
Oliver H. P. Garrett
Based onThree Faces East (play)
by Anthony Paul Kelly
StarringConstance Bennett
Music byPaul Lamkoff
CinematographyBarney McGill
Edited byWilliam Holmes
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures, Inc.
Release date
  • July 26, 1930 (1930-07-26) (US premiere)
Running time
71 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The story takes place during World War I. The action opens on a French battlefield. After meeting with German spy Schiller Blacher (Erich von Stroheim), Z-1 (Constance Bennett) is sent on a mission to England. The action then moves into the London home of Sir Winston Chamberlain (William Holden- no relation to the 1950s star of the same name). Sir Winston does not know that his supposedly faithful butler, Vardar, is actually Blacher. When Z-1, as Frances Hawtree, arrives at the home, Vardar, who is in love with her, believes her to be a loyal German agent, but things turn out otherwise when she prevents him from sending a stolen code back to Germany and thus reveals her true allegiance.

Cast

Preservation

The film survived complete. It was transferred into a 16mm film by Associated Artists Productions in 1956-1958 and shown on television. A 16mm copy is housed at the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research.[3] Another print exists at the Library of Congress.[4]

References
  1. Three Faces East as produced on Broadway at the Cohan and Harris Theatre and the Longacre Theatre respectively, beginning August 13, 1918, 335 performances, imdb.com; accessed August 10, 2015.
  2. The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30 by The American Film Institute, copyright 1971
  3. Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research; Feature Film Database:Three Faces East..Retrieved July 19, 2018
  4. Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, by The American film Institute, c. 1978


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.