Soul of the Beast
About Soul of the Beast
Ruth Lorrimore and her elephant Oscar are an act in the circus of her stepfather, Silas Hamm, who is harsh with everyone, including her. When the woman who plays the Wild Girl in a cage quits after a fight with Hamm, he forces Ruth into the part. Locked in during the show, she cannot make herself eat the raw meat the act requires. A storm drives the crowd off, knocks the tents down, and breaks the show apart.
Cast & crew
More about Soul of the Beast
John Griffith Wray directed for Thomas H. Ince. Ralph Dixon wrote the script from a story by C. Gardner Sullivan. Henry Sharp photographed it. Metro Pictures distributed it. It opened on 7 May 1923. Madge Bellamy plays Ruth, Cullen Landis plays Paul Nadeau, and Noah Beery plays Caesar Durand. Oscar the Elephant plays Oscar. Bellamy wrote that the company traveled with a circus for three days and that the elephant trainer taught her the bow, the rear, and the lie-down over her body. A circulating copy runs 1 hour 3 minutes 56 seconds. Wikidata says 65 minutes.
Themes
Making
Bellamy's own account is that they spent three days with a working circus and that she learned Oscar's tricks from the trainer.
Look
Henry Sharp was the cinematographer.
Notes
- Vola Vale plays Jacqueline. Bert Sprotte plays Silas Hamm. Vernon Dent plays a carnival patron called The Boob.
- The beast of the title is Oscar, Ruth's elephant.
- The northwoods label in the catalog sits on top of a circus plot.
Scenes
- Hamm locks Ruth in the Wild Girl cage and expects her to eat raw meat.
- A storm flattens the tents and scatters the crowd.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Soul of the Beast (1923).webm)
