BLACK OXEN
click title to view picture(s) of this feature!

PRESERVATION STATUS: Restored. Located at Eastman House. A 16mm print of this is also located at The New York Public Library.

Frank Lloyd Productions. Distributed by First National Pictures. December 29, 1924 (San Francisco premiere; released Jan 1924; copyright: December 12, 1923 LP19700.) Silent b&w. 35mm. 8 reels, 7,937 ft.

Directed by: Frank Lloyd. Photographed by: Norbert Brodin.

Cast: Corinne Griffith (Madame Zattiany/Mary Ogden), Conway Tearle (Lee Clavering), Thomas Ricketts (Charles Dinwiddie), Thomas Guise (Judge Gavin Trent), Clara Bow (Janet Oglethorpe), Kate Lester (Jane Oglethorpe), Harry Mestayer (James Oglethorpe), Lincoln Stedman (Donnie Ferris), Claire McDowell (Agnes Trevor), Alan Hale (Prince Rohenhauer), Clarissa Selwynne (Gora Dwight), Fred Gambold (Oglethorpe butler), Percy Williams (Ogden buttler), Otto Nelson (Dr. Steinach), Eric Mayne (chancellor), Otto Lederer (Austrian advisor), Carmelita Geraghty (Anna Goodrich), Ione Atkinson, Mila Constantin, Hortense O'Brien (flappers).

MELODRAMA. Source: Gertrude Franklin Atherton, "Black Oxen" (New York, 1923).

Playwright Lee Clavering falls in love with a mysterious and beautiful woman. She reveals herself as Austrian Countess Zattiany, formerly New York socialite Mary Ogden, who, by medical means, has had her youth restored. Lee plans to marry the countess, but a former admirer of hers intervenes, points out her folly, and escorts her back to Austria. Lee finds romance with flapper Janet Oglethorpe. (Information from the "American Film Institute Catalogue of Feature Films.")


NOTES: This feature was directed by Frank Lloyd, featured Corinne Griffith as a 58-year-old matron who loses 28 years via a rejuvenating glandular treatment and X-ray surgery. She attracts playwright Conway Tearle, only to leave him when her Austrian prince lover Alan Hale beckons. Clara was fifth-billed as the ever-present flapper who later consoles Tearle.

REVIEW:(VARIETY) "Clara Bow contributed a flapper type that relieved the tensity of the dramatic moments and served as refreshing comedy relief."


Please email The Clara Bow Page for information on the purchase of a video of this feature!
BACK TO