"Rosita" (1923) - hidden gem

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Out Yonder 1919 The Woman God Forgot 1917 That Model from Paris 1926 For Better for Worse 1919 Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall 1924

OUR DOCUMENTARY

We are proud to present to all silent film lovers our multiple award-winning documentary! In March 2015 it won the distinction "Award of Merit" at the San Francisco Film Awards. In May it won the Silver Award at the 2015 International Independent Film Awards. In September 2015 it won the Award of Recognition at the Accolade Global Film Competition. Of equal merit is the inclusion of the documentary in the Official Selection of the San Jose International Short Film Festival in October 2015. In December the documentary won the extremely prestigious Diamond Award at the 2015 California Film Awards. The amazing run of recognition for our documentary continued in 2016. In February it was included in the Official Selection of the Buffalo Niagara International Film Festival.

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Snitz Edwards in Rosita 1923 000

Snitz Edwards

Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
Produced by       Mary Pickford
Written by    Edward Knoblock
Based on       the opera Don César de Bazan
Starring    Mary Pickford, Holbrook Blinn, George Walsh, Irene Rich, Snitz Edwards
Cinematography          Charles Rosher
Distributed by    United Artists Corporation
Release date          September 3, 1923
Running time          80 minutes
Country       United States
Language       Silent film, English intertitles

This film is part of our Silent Gems Collection and the DVD is available on Ebay.

Update:
You don't have to leave our website in order to obtain the films from our Silent Gems Collection. These gems are now available to our users in exchange for donation. For details click here.

This film is part of our series 'Hidden Gems'. It can be watched by registered users who make a donation. For more details, please click here.

"Rosita" (1923) is a drama and romance included in our program to illustrate the work and contributions of our star Snitz Edwards.

For some reason Mary Pickford did not want this film to be preserved. We are very fortunate that it survived in a Russian archive.

This film was the Hollywood debut of the esteemed German director Ernst Lubitsch. The action takes place in 19th century Spain.

Rosita (Mary Pickford) is a street singer adored by the people. One day the philandering king (Holbrook Blinn) decides to see her personally and verify the reports that she has been insulting him with her songs. Instead of getting angry, the king is instantly infatuated with Rosita, who is then arrested by the king's guards.

As she is being dragged through the streets a young officer by the name of Don Diego (George Walsh) tries to set her free, but is drawn into a sword fight and subsequently is arrested as well. Rosita is impressed with Don Diego's intervention and the two fall in love. Unknown to her, her beau is sentenced to die.

The king is not successful in making Rosita his mistress and feels compelled to give her more and more in the vain hope that she will yield in the end. First he dresses her in expensive clothes and jewelry, later gives her and her family his villa to live in, then even arranges her to marry a nobleman to gain a title and respect.

The last gift comes with a catch, however, as the king orders her to marry blindfold an unknown man before his execution. Rosita disobeys the king's orders, looks at her new husband and is astonished to find out that she married the man she loves. She immediately meets the king and extracts from him a pardon that will save Don Diego's life. However, as soon as she is gone, the king double-crosses her and orders the prisoner executed.

Snitz Edwards plays the little jailer, who is in charge of keeping order in the prison, bringing messages and writing supplies to the cells when needed and delivering food to prisoners before execution. His job offers a few perks as well, such as peeking inside the cells and eavesdropping.

Click to enlarge:

Mary Pickford and Holbrook Blinn in Rosita 1923 15

Mary Pickford and Holbrook Blinn

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Below is a short preview of the film.