The White Sister (1923 film)
| The White Sister | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Henry King |
| Produced by | Henry King |
| Written by | George V. Hobart Charles E. Whittaker Will M. Ritchey Don Bartlett |
| Based on |
The White Sister by Francis Marion Crawford |
| Starring |
Lillian Gish Ronald Colman |
| Music by | Joseph Carl Breil |
| Cinematography |
Roy F. Overbaugh William Schurr Fernando Risi |
| Edited by | W. Duncan Mansfield |
| Distributed by | Metro Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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143 minutes ; 13 reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The White Sister is a 1923 American drama film starring Lillian Gish, directed by Henry King, and released by Metro Pictures about nine months before its merger into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was based on the 1909 novel by F. Marion Crawford.
Angela Chiaromonte (Lillian Gish) and Captain Giovanni Severini (Ronald Colman) are deeply in love, but Angela's wealthy father, Prince Chiaromonte (Charles Lane), does not know this and arranges her marriage, without her knowledge, to the son of Count del Ferice (Roman Ibanez). However, the prince is killed as the result of an accident while riding to hounds.
While Angela grieves, her older half-sister, the Marchesa di Mola (Gail Kane), takes the opportunity to look through their late father's papers and secretly burns one of them. No will can be found, so not only does the entire estate go to the Marchesa, but because the prince's second marriage was not registered with the civil authorities, it is not considered legally valid, making Angela "nobody". With that, Count del Ferice dissolves the marriage contract between Angela and his son.
The Marchesa orders Angela to leave the palace that very day, revealing that she has always hated her stepsister for "whining" her way into their father's affection and more recently for taking Giovanni, the only man she ever loved. Madame Bernard (Juliette La Violette), Angela's companion and chaperone, offers her a place in her home.
Giovanni finally finds her there, but has some bad news. He has been appointed to command an expedition of engineers being sent to Africa and must leave the next morning. However, he promises they will be married the day he returns.
Unfortunately, his camp is attacked by Arabs, and Italian newspapers announce that all have been massacred. When Angela hears the news, she becomes catatonic. She is taken to the Santa Giovanna d'Aza hospital, which is run by nuns. After several days, the painter Durand (Alfredo Bertone), himself hopelessly in love with Angela, creates a portrait of Giovanni and brings it to the hospital, hoping it will help. Angela at first mistakes it for Giovanni, kissing it several times, but then comes to her senses. After a while, she informs Monsignor Seracinesca (J. Barney Sherry), an old family friend, that she intends to become a nun, a white sister, in honor of Giovanni.
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Wikipedia