The Midnight Sun is a 1926 American silent drama film directed by Dimitri Buchowetzki and starring Laura La Plante, Pat O'Malley, and Michael Vavitch.Munden p. 511 It is based on a novel by the French writer Pierre Benoît.Progressive Silent Film List: The Midnight Sun at silentera.com The film is set in pre-Revolutionary Tsarist Russia.
The film includes a brief scene shot in Technicolor.
Plot As described in a film magazine, American Olga Morova dances in the Russian ballet where she is known as 'The Midnight Sun'. She has attracted the attentions of banker Ivan Kusmin, the Grand Duke Sergius, and young officer Alexei Orloff. She flirts with the first two but falls in love with Alexei. However, the young officer misinterprets her presence in the Grand Duke's chambers and slaps her, and as a result faces a court-martial where he is sentenced to death. Frantic with grief, Olga goes through many sacrifices and adventures, including incidents where a gunboat chases a yacht and a wild automobile ride, to save Alexei from execution. In the end she is successful, and the lovers are reunited.
Cast
Production Some on-location scenes were filmed in Truckee, California.
Preservation A complete print of The Midnight Sun is located in the UCLA Film & Television Archive.Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Midnight Sun It has not been released to the public on DVD or other format.Movie Silently's Ten Most Wanted Silent Films (That Still Live in Vaults), at moviessilently.com
References
Bibliography Munden, Kenneth White. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press, 1997.
External links
Still at silentfilmstillarchive.com Still 1 and 2 of Pearl Dancers from the Ballet of Jewels, from www.gettyimages.com