Stella Maris
About Stella Maris
Stella Maris, paralyzed since birth, lives in a London room the Blounts have sealed off from bad news. A sign on her door tells unhappiness to stay outside. Journalist John Risca visits and lets her think he is unmarried. His wife Louise, meanwhile, hires the orphan Unity Blake and beats her so badly that Louise is sent to prison for three years. John adopts Unity. She loves him. He loves Stella. After an operation Stella can walk. She goes to John's house, and Louise, just out of prison, tells her the marriage is real. Unity, who has heard that John cannot be free while Louise lives, shoots Louise in her bed and then kills herself, leaving a note asking that John be happy with Stella. The police treat it as the end of the abuse Unity already knew. John and Stella marry.
Cast & crew
More about Stella Maris
Marshall Neilan directed and supervised. Frances Marion adapted William J. Locke's 1913 novel. Walter Stradling photographed it, Wilfred Buckland was art director, and Nat Deverich was assistant director. Famous Players-Lasky released it through Artcraft. The picture is six reels and opened on January 21, 1918. Artcraft copyrighted it on January 12, 1918, as LP11935. Pickford plays both Stella and Unity.
Themes
Background
The story is set in London during the war, which the Blounts have kept out of Stella's room along with poverty.
Making
Pickford changes makeup and costume between the sheltered girl and the beaten orphan, and the scene in Stella's room puts both faces in one shot by double exposure. Gustav von Seyffertitz plays the surgeon who operates on Stella.
Audiences
Rentals were reported at $600,000.
Look
Walter Stradling photographed Pickford in both roles. The meeting between Stella and Unity is a double exposure.
Preservation
Prints are held by the Mary Pickford Institute for Film Education and the Library of Congress.
Notes
- Ida Waterman and Herbert Standing play Lady Eleanor and Sir Oliver Blount. Conway Tearle plays John Risca. Marcia Manon plays Louise.
- Josephine Crowell plays Aunt Gladys Linden, the house where Unity is sent so she will not meet Stella.
- Teddy the Dog, loaned by Mack Sennett, runs off with a silk jacket and leads Unity into Stella's room.
- The Chicago Board of Censors cut the shot of Unity firing the gun.
- A 1925 remake starred Mary Philbin in the title role.
- Stella Maris is Latin for 'star of the sea.'
Scenes
- Unity chases the dog into Stella's room to get back a silk jacket, and the two Pickford characters meet.
- Louise, released from prison, opens the door and tells Stella that John is married.
- Unity shoots Louise in bed and then kills herself, leaving John the note.
Influenced by
- Stella Maris, the 1913 novel by William John Locke
Influenced
- Stella Maris (1925)
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Stella Maris (1918) by Marshall Neilan.webm)
Quotes
All unhappiness and world wisdom leave outside. Those without smiles need not enter.
