The Red Lily

1924 film

September 8, 1924 (1924-09-08)

Running time

81 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Red Lily is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Fred Niblo and starring Ramon Novarro, Enid Bennett, and Wallace Beery.^[1] A print of the film exists.^[2]

Plot

Marise La Noue (Enid Bennett) and Jean Leonnec (Ramon Novarro) are young lovers who elope to Paris; however, they are separated shortly after their arrival, leading to the downward spiral of both their lives: She becomes a prostitute known as 'the Red Lily', and he learns the ways of the underworld from Bo-Bo (Wallace Beery).

Cast

Ramon Novarro as Jean Leonnec
Enid Bennett as Marise La Noue
Frank Currier as Hugo Leonnec
Mitchell Lewis as D'Agut
Rosita Marstini as Madame Charpied (as Risita Marstini)
Sidney Franklin as M. Charpied - Her Husband
Wallace Beery as Bo-Bo
George Nichols as Concierge
Emily Fitzroy as Mama Bouchard
George Periolat as Papa Bouchard
Rosemary Theby as Nana
Milla Davenport as Madame Poussot
Gibson Gowland as Le Turc
Dick Sutherland as The Toad
Marcelle Corday as Woman in bar (uncredited)

Censorship concerns

The film industry created the National Association of the Motion Picture Industry in 1916 in an effort to preempt censorship by states and municipalities, and it used a list of subjects called the "Thirteen Points" which film plots were to avoid. However, prostitution was not explicitly barred so long as it was not forcible (i.e., white slavery), and aspects of the prostitute’s work were not present in the film.^[3]

References

^ "Silent Era: The Red Lily". silentera. Retrieved June 8, 2008.
^ "The Red Lily". American Silent Feature Film Survival Database. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
^ Campbell, Russell (1997). "Prostitution and Film Censorship in the USA". Screening the Past (2): C/6. Retrieved July 5, 2020.