Manslaughter (1922)
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14% want to see it
(7 ratings)
This Cecil B. DeMille morality play came at just the right time -- the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal and William Desmond Taylor murder were both still fresh in the public's mind. Leatrice Joy plays Lydia Thorne, a rich society girl who is addicted to thrills. Because of her reckless… More This Cecil B. DeMille morality play came at just the right time -- the Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle scandal and William Desmond Taylor murder were both still fresh in the public's mind. Leatrice Joy plays Lydia Thorne, a rich society girl who is addicted to thrills. Because of her reckless driving, she is responsible for the death of a motorcycle cop and is brought to trial. The prosecutor is none other than her fiancé, Daniel O'Bannon (Thomas Meighan). Feeling that prison is her only means of mending her ways, he guarantees her conviction by making a speech in which he depicts the decadence and downfall of Rome (this gave DeMille the opportunity for one of his historical fantasy sequences). After Lydia is found guilty, the miserable O'Bannon becomes an alcoholic, but Lydia does learn from the experience and when she is released she searches out O'Bannon. Her new outlook on life brings him around, and they are together once again. This film is, perhaps, the epitome of the DeMille formula of the '20s -- as long as the characters paid for their sins by the last reel, DeMille could show all the debauchery he wanted. This pleased both the Hayes office's need for censorship and filmgoers' hunger for sensation. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi
- Directed By
- Cecil B. DeMille
- Genres
- Drama
Unrated,
Critic Reviews
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Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
DeMille is the Griffith of Snark
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Cast
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Thomas Meighan
as Daniel O'Bannon
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Leatrice Joy
as Lydia Thorne
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Lois Wilson
as Evans Her Maid
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John Miltern
as Gov. Stephen Albee
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George Fawcett
as Judge Homans
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Julia Faye
as Mrs. Drummond
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Edythe Chapman
as Adeline Bennett
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Jack Mower
as Drummond a Policeman
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Dorothy Cumming
as Eleanor Bellington
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Casson Ferguson
as Bobby Dorest
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Mickey Moore
as Dicky Evans
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James Neill
as Butler
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Sylvia Ashton
as Prison Matron
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Raymond Hatton
as Brown
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"Teddy"
as "Gloomy Gus"
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Mabel Van Buren
as Prisoner
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Ethel Wales
as Prisoner
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Dale Fuller
as Prisoner
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Edward Martindel
as Wiley
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Charles Ogle
as Doctor
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Guy Oliver
as Musician
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Shannon Day
as Miss Santa Claus
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Lucien Littlefield
as Witness
- Spottiswood Aitken
- Sidney Bracey
- Clarence Burton
