Scarlet Days
About Scarlet Days
Rosie Nell, a dance-hall woman in gold-rush California, is accused of killing another entertainer. Her daughter, Lady Fair, who does not know how her mother lives, is due back from school in the East, and Rosie is given three days with her at a cabin. King Bagley, the dance-hall manager, decides he wants the daughter and tries to take her. Rosie and Lady Fair barricade the cabin. The bandit Alvarez and John Randolph, who loves Lady Fair, help hold it. The sheriff arrives and stops the fight.
Cast & crew
More about Scarlet Days
Stanner E. V. Taylor wrote the story and scenario. AFI lists the film as based on George Bernard Shaw’s play Mrs. Warren’s Profession (London, 1902), and records the alternate title Cook of Angels Camp. Griffith copyrighted it on 24 October 1919 (LP14367). Famous Players-Lasky and Paramount-Artcraft released it. It opened 30 November 1919 at the Imperial Theatre in San Francisco and the next day at Grauman’s Million Dollar Theatre in Los Angeles. James Smith edited.
Themes
Reviews
Variety, 14 November 1919, said the story was too commonplace for Griffith and expressed surprise that he was filming a rough Western full of gunplay.
Look
G. W. Bitzer photographed the seven-reel Western.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles. The print recovered from the Soviet archive still carried Russian titles when MoMA first showed it; the museum’s film department later made English titles.
Preservation
Long treated as lost, a print turned up in the State Film Archives of the Soviet Union and was given to the Museum of Modern Art in 1969. MoMA showed it, still with Russian titles, on 24 and 25 March 1969, with A Romance of Happy Valley. The museum later made English titles.
Notes
- Richard Barthelmess plays Alvarez, a part for which Griffith screen-tested Rudolph Valentino. Eugenie Besserer plays Rosie Nell. Carol Dempster plays Lady Fair.
- Clarine Seymour plays Chiquita. Walter Long plays King Bagley. Ralph Graves plays Randolph. George Fawcett plays the sheriff. Rhea Haines plays Spasm Sal.
- The Cincinnati Enquirer, 16 November 1919, called it a story of the gold rush of ’49, “Bret Harte transferred to the screen.”
- A copy on the Wikipedia article runs 1 hour 16 minutes 24 seconds. The release length is 7 reels, 6,916 feet.
Scenes
- Rosie is given three days at a cabin with the daughter who does not know her work.
- Bagley tries to take Lady Fair, and the women barricade the cabin.
- Alvarez and Randolph hold the place until the sheriff stops the fight.
Influenced by
- George Bernard Shaw’s play Mrs. Warren’s Profession (London, 1902), the source named by AFI
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Scarlet Days (1919).webm)
