The_Fighting_Coward_(1924_film) Knowpia

The Fighting Coward
The Fighting Coward
Directed by	James Cruze
Written by	Walter Woods (scenario)
Based on	Magnolia; by Booth Tarkington
Produced by	Adolph Zukor; Jesse Lasky
Starring	Ernest Torrence; Mary Astor; Noah Beery, Sr.; Cullen Landis
Cinematography	Karl Brown
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	March 30, 1924;
Running time	7 reels (6,501 feet)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Fighting Coward is a 1924 American silent comedy film produced by Famous Players–Lasky, released by Paramount Pictures, and directed by James Cruze. The film stars Ernest Torrence, Mary Astor, Noah Beery, Sr., Phyllis Haver, and Cullen Landis.^[1] The film is based on the play Magnolia by Booth Tarkington, from 1904.^[2]

Full feature

Plot edit

As described in a film magazine review,^[3] prior to the American Civil War, Tom Rumford, Southern born but reared by Philadelphia relatives, returns to Mississippi when 21 years old and becomes engaged to his cousin Elvira. Unused to the stern traditions of the Southern code of honor, he is driven from home in disgrace, stigmatized as being a coward, and loses his sweetheart's love when he refuses a challenge to fight a duel. Later, he meets General Orlando Jackson, a famous gunfighter. Jackson develops the young man into a dangerous shot and fighting man under the name Colonel Blake. With his honor cleared, he returns to his Mississippi home and visits his folks, who now bow down to him, and he weds Elvira's younger sister Lucy.

Cast edit

Ernest Torrence as General Orlando Jackson
Mary Astor as Lucy
Noah Beery, Sr. as Captain Blackie
Cullen Landis as Tom Rumford
Phyllis Haver as Elvira
G. Raymond Nye as Major Patterson
Richard Neill as Joe Patterson (credited as Richard R. Neill)
Carmen Phillips as Mexico
Bruce Covington as General Rumford
Helen Dunbar as Mrs. Rumford
Frank Jonasson as Rumbo

Preservation edit

Copies of The Fighting Coward survive in the Library of Congress, George Eastman House, and in the Gosfilmofond archive in Moscow.^[4]

References edit

^ "Progressive Silent Film List". silentera.com. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
^ "Magnolia | IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information". IBDB. August 27, 1923. Retrieved February 19, 2015.
^ Pardy, George T. (March 29, 1924). "Box Office Reviews: The Fighting Coward". Exhibitors Trade Review. New York: Exhibitors Review Publishing Corporation: 26. Retrieved October 24, 2022. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Fighting Coward