Suzanna
About Suzanna
Don Fernando and Don Diego mean to join their California ranches by marrying Fernando's son Ramón to Diego's daughter Dolores. Ramón loves Suzanna, daughter of the peon Ruiz, and Dolores wants the toreador Pancho. Suzanna learns that she and Dolores were switched as infants and that she is Diego's daughter. She says nothing. On the day she is to marry Pancho, Ramón takes her from the altar. Once the parentage is out, Ramón marries Suzanna and Dolores marries Pancho.
Cast & crew
More about Suzanna
F. Richard Jones directed Mabel Normand for producer Mack Sennett, who adapted Linton Wells's unpublished story. Fred W. Jackman, Homer Scott, and Robert Walters photographed it. Allen McNeil edited. Bert Lewis is credited with the music. Allied Producers and Distributors released it. AFI gives 15 February 1923, after a 23 December 1922 opening at the Mission Theatre in Los Angeles. The negative length on the AFI record is 6,500 feet, eight reels.
Themes
Background
The plot is set on ranchos in old California, with a bullfighter, a peon family, and an arranged match meant to merge two land grants.
Making
Sennett built the picture as a feature for Normand rather than a two-reel chase comedy, from a story Wells had not published.
Look
Fred W. Jackman, Homer Scott, and Robert Walters shared the photography on the ranch exteriors and the wedding sequence.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles. Bert Lewis is credited as composer.
Preservation
A partial copy, missing two reels, is held in a European archive. Shorter copies also circulate.
Notes
- George Nichols plays Don Fernando, Walter McGrail plays Ramón, Eric Mayne plays Don Diego, Winifred Bryson plays Dolores, Léon Bary plays Pancho, and Evelyn Sherman plays Doña Isabella. Carl Stockdale is Ruiz.
- Minnie Devereaux appears as herself. A horse, Black Hawk, is also credited.
- Variety reported on 1 February 1923 that exhibitors were balking at Allied's rental fee, described as nearly twice First National's rate.
- The Los Angeles run at the Mission was booked for eight weeks.
Scenes
- Suzanna learns she is Don Diego's daughter and keeps quiet so the match can go ahead.
- Ramón lifts her from the altar as she is about to marry Pancho.
Influenced by
- Linton Wells's unpublished story Suzanna
Also available
- Internet Archive (1922SuzannaMabelNormandGeorgeNicholsWalterMcGrail)
- Wikimedia Commons (Suzanna 1923.webm)
