THE ANCIENT MARINER
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PRESERVATION STATUS: Lost

Fox film Corp. December 27, 1925 (cDecember 13, 1925 LP22283). Silent; b&w. 35mm. 6 reels, 5,548 ft.

Presented by: William Fox. Directed by: Henry Otto, Chester Bennett. Titles by: Tom Miranda. Modern Story: Eve Unsell. Photographed by: Joseph August. Asst. Director: James Tinling.

Cast--Modern Sequences: Clara Bow (Doris), Earle Williams (Victor Brant), Leslie Fenton (Joel Barlowe), Nigel De Brulier (The Skipper).

Cast--Ancient Mariner Sequences: Paul Panzer (The Mariner), Gladys Brockwell (Life in Death), Robert Klein (Death).

FANTASY-DRAMA: Source: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (London, 1957).

Doris Matthews, a beautiful, innocent young girl, forsakes her sweetheart, Joel Barlowe, in favor of Victor Brant, a wealthy roue. On the night before they are to elope, an old sailor gives Brant a strange potion to drink and then unfolds before his eyes "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Deeply touched by this story about the consequences of the wanton destruction of innocent beauty, Brant leaves without Doris. After some time, he returns and finds to his pained satisfaction that Doris, having overcome her infatuation for hims, has again turned her tender attentions toward Joel. (Information from "The American Film Institute Catalogue of Feature Films".)

NOTES: This feature was the first of Clara's 8 1926 features, and the most cheaply produced on all accounts. In the modern sequence, Clara Nurses a worldly man through a siege of temporary blindness. The skipper of the boat relates the parable of the ancient mariner, roughly hewing to the same account utilized by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in his epic poem. This Fox film was so poor in quality that Motion Picture Herald reported in its exhibitors' column: "The best thing for you to do if you have this bought will be to pay for it if you have to and let it stay at the exchange. Dixie Theatre, Russellville, Ky."

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