The Godless Girl (1929)

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Completed as a silent film, Cecil B. DeMille's The Godless Girl was quickly converted into a part-talkie by the simple expedient of tacking on a 10-minute coda, wherein the characters discuss the weather. The film begins as a condemnation of the atheistic movement then prevalent on high-school and… More Completed as a silent film, Cecil B. DeMille's The Godless Girl was quickly converted into a part-talkie by the simple expedient of tacking on a 10-minute coda, wherein the characters discuss the weather. The film begins as a condemnation of the atheistic movement then prevalent on high-school and college campuses. Heroine Judith Craig (Lina Basquette) and hero Bob Hathaway (George Duryea, later known as western star Tom Keene) hold secret anti-religious meetings with their friends. During one such meeting, the police stage a raid, whereupon a stairway collapses and a young girl is killed. Arrested for complicity in the girl's death, Judith and Bob are sent to reform school, where they suffer mightily at the hands of their sadistic jailers. Likewise brutalized is hard-boiled Mame (Marie Prevost), who in one of the film's most notorious scenes is strung up by her wrists and beaten (DeMille claimed that he was only mirroring "real life," but he was always saying things like that). Somehow, their horrible experiences serve to renew Judith and Bob's faith in God. In a harrowing climax, Bob rescues Judith from a fire, a scene so realistically staged that, for the rest of her life, the actress retained vivid memories of how close she came to being genuinely incinerated. Featured in the cast are Noah Beery Sr. as "The Brute" and Eddie Quillan as "The Goat." The Godless Girl represented Cecil B. DeMille's final production for Pathe; shortly afterward, he moved to MGM, thence to Paramount. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 30 min.
Directed By: Cecil B. DeMille
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Mar 31, 1929 Wide

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

it's like reefer madness for atheists :P ok, to be fair it's very well made and entertaining, if terribly predictable
Emily B

Cecil B. DeMille's last silent feature and a great one it is too. The film starts with a high-school battle between the two gangs, the Athiests, led by Judy and the Believers led by the handsome Bob. When the believers gate crash the Godless Society's meeting a full scale… More
Cecil B. DeMille's last silent feature and a great one it is too. The film starts with a high-school battle between the two gangs, the Athiests, led by Judy and the Believers led by the handsome Bob. When the believers gate crash the Godless Society's meeting a full scale riot braeks out and during all the commotion a girl falls to her death. Then we find ourselves in a brutal reform school. The two gang leaders and their neutral friend Bozo are sent there after the tragic accident. Both the girls and the boys are open to torture and punishment. Half way through the story Judy forgots her Atheist ways with the help of her new friend. Judy and Bob, who once were enemies fall in love and manage to escape, though they are not quite successful. This is essential religious propaganda, but even though the girl was converted so easily it is still like nothing else I've seen. Defiantly recommended.

Cast

            Lina Basquette as The Girl

            Marie Prevost as The Other Girl

            George Duryea as The Boy

            Eddie Quillan as The Goat

            Noah Beery Sr. as The Brute

            Richard Alexander as Guard

            Emily Barrye as Inmate

            Wade Boteler
            
            Julia Brown
            
            Clarence Burton as Guard

            Colin Chase
            
            Jacqueline Dryese as Inmate

            George Ellis
            
            James Farley
            
            Julia Faye as Inmate

            May Giraci
            
            Grace Gordon
            
            William Humphrey
            
            George Irving
            
            Mary Jane Irving as The Victim

            Peaches Jackson
            
            Dolores Johnson
            
            Jane Keckley
            
            Tom Keene as The Boy

            Richard Lapan
            
            Viola Louie as Inmate

            Don Marion
            
            Buddy Messinger
            
            Pat Moore
            
            Jack Murphy
            
            Hortense Petra
            
            Kate Price as Matron

            Gertrude Quality as Matron

            Milton Holmes
            
            Betty Boyd
            
            Cameron Coffey
            
            Larry Fisher
            
            Evelyn Francisco
            
            Mary Mayberry
            
            Ida McKenzie
            
            Jimmy Aldine
            
            Hedwiga Reicher as Matron
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