Zander the Great
About Zander the Great
Mamie Smith is taken out of a harsh orphanage by Mrs. Caldwell, who has a small son. Mamie calls him Zander, short for Alexander. When Mrs. Caldwell dies, the county wants the boy back in that orphanage. Mamie takes him west to look for his father. In Arizona she meets Dan Murchison, a liquor smuggler who lets her think he is Caldwell so the sheriff will not look too hard. She falls for Dan, learns the bootlegging, and threatens to turn him in. He locks her up and sends Zander to his friend Juan. She gets out, is caught by Black Bart's gang and tied to a tree, frees herself, and reaches Juan's men in time to round the gang up. Dan tells her he is not the father. They marry.
Cast & crew
More about Zander the Great
George W. Hill directed, his first film for MGM. Frances Marion adapted Edward Salisbury Field's 1923 play. George Barnes photographed and Victor Schertzinger wrote the music. Marion Davies plays Mamie, Hedda Hopper plays Mrs. Caldwell, and Harrison Ford plays Dan Murchison. MGM released it on May 2, 1925, in eight reels.
Themes
Background
Prohibition is the Arizona half of the plot: Dan's trade is smuggled liquor, and the sheriff is the reason he borrows another man's name.
Making
Hill came to MGM with a Marion script and a Davies vehicle that leaves the orphanage for desert chases and a gang roundup.
Look
George Barnes shot the orphanage scenes and the Arizona exteriors, including the gang's capture of Mamie.
Music
Victor Schertzinger composed the score that accompanied the silent release.
Preservation
A print of about 79 minutes circulates.
Notes
- Mamie's line on the nickname is that Alexander is too big a name for a small baby.
- The Arizona section turns the search for a father into a bootlegging plot.
- Holbrook Blinn, Harry Myers, and George Siegmann are in the cast listings.
- A circulating print runs about 1 hour 19 minutes.
- The story started as Field's stage play two years before the film.
Scenes
- Mamie shortens Alexander to Zander in the Caldwell house.
- Dan lets her believe he is the missing father.
- She gets free of the tree and brings Juan's men down on the gang.
Influenced by
- Edward Salisbury Field's 1923 play Zander the Great
