Tess of the d'Urbervilles is a 1924 American silent drama film starring Blanche Sweet and Conrad Nagel.Variety film review; July 30, 1924, p. 24.Harrison's Reports review; August 2, 1924; p. 123. It was directed by Sweet's husband, Marshall Neilan. The film is the second motion picture adaptation of the 1891 novel by Thomas Hardy, which had been turned into a very successful 1897 play starring Mrs. Fiske. In 1913, Adolph Zukor enticed Mrs. Fiske to reprise her role in a film version which is now considered lost. The 1924 version is also considered lost.Progressive Silent Film List: Tess of the d'Urbervilles at silentera.com
Plot A young servant girl is seduced and raped by an older middle class man in Victorian England when employed in his household. After moving on with her path, she gets married. All is well until her husband discovers her past. This fact prompts her on a life of wandering, murder, and execution.
Cast
Production After the film was completed, Louis B. Mayer changed the tragic ending to a happy one, much to the annoyance of Neilan and Hardy.Eames, John Douglas (1982). The MGM Story: The Complete History of Fifty-Seven Roaring Years, Crown Publishers, p. 12
Preservation With no prints of Tess of the d'Urbervilles located in any film archives, it is a lost film.
See also Blanche Sweet filmography Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1913) Tess (1979) Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008) List of lost films
References
External links
Period advertisement Tess of the d'Urbervilles Pressbook promotional for the film