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Dear Silent Hall of Fame Users:

    You have come to this website, because you like silent films and silent movie stars.  There are many places like this.  But unlike other sites, here at Silent Hall of Fame you can make a real difference.  You can help us show for the first time many films featuring your favorite silent stars that have not been seen in generations.  This will bring their names back into the public discourse.  But you can do much more than that: you can help your favorite silent stars receive belated recognition and glory.

    Until now there has never been an organization with the purpose to place a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for movie personalities from a century ago.  Silent Hall of Fame is this historic organization.  Silent Hall of Fame is the only organization of its kind.  We will make history and we invite you to become a part of history by sponsoring a silent movie star for the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  All contributions are tax deductible.

   Please use this button for a one-time donation. Use the button on the right-hand side for a recurring donation.

 

Rare Gems on DVD

Our users have spoken, and we have listened. You want to see rare and hard to find films, and we have created for you the Silent Gems Collection, available on eBay. This DVD collection includes rare and for the first time available films with our stars, as well as other silent masterpieces. These are high quality films that are hard to find anywhere else. Please click on this link to see the collection: Silent Gems Collection

Important 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 as a reward for donation. For details click here.

 Out Yonder 1919The Woman God Forgot 1917That Model from Paris 1926For Better for Worse 1919Dorothy 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.

 San Francisco Film Awards newInternational Independent Film Awards newAccolade Global Film Competition Award newSan Jose International Short Film Festival newCalifornia Film Awards small new

Martha-Mansfield-in-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-director-John-S-Robertson-1920-000

   Martha Mansfield

 

Directed by                     John S. Robertson
Produced by                   Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky
Written by                      Thomas Russell Sullivan, Clara Beranger
Based on                         The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
Starring                          John Barrymore, Martha Mansfield, Brandon Hurst, Nita Naldi
Cinematography            Roy F. Overbaugh
Distributed by                Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, Paramount Pictures
Release date                    March 18, 1920
Running time                 77 minutes
Country                           United States
Language                         Silent film, English intertitles

 

"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1920) is considered the first great American horror film.  It is included in our program to illustrate the contributions to the Motion Pictures industry of two of our stars - director John S. Robertson and actress Martha Mansfield.

The film is based on the famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson.  A benevolent doctor and an aspiring scientist, Dr. Jekyll (John Barrymore) is tempted to explore the two sides of his personality - the good one and the evil one.  He invents a concoction that turns him into a monster, and an antidote that turns him back to his normal good self. 

Dr. Jekyll is the official suitor of his friend's daughter Millicent (Martha Mansfield).  She is eager to be with him, but his split personality obsession prevents him from dedicating enough time to her.  Then the evil side, named Mr. Hyde, starts his own life, chasing other women and becoming more and more violent.  Millicent's father gets in harm's way by confronting Jekyll, and she herself gets in trouble, too.

In the end, Dr. Jekyll pays the ultimate price for not being able to control his evil alter ego.

 

Martha Mansfield played her most famous role in this film.  She was a true rising star, only to die at 24 in a freak fire accident three years later.

The film is ranked number 87 in the list of The Top 100 Silent Era Films of the influential website Silent Era.

It enjoys a nice rating in IMDB.

 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) on IMDb

 

 

Click to enlarge:

 

Martha-Mansfield-and-John-Barrymore-in-Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-director-John-S-Robertson-1920-52

   Martha Mansfield and John Barrymore

 

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