The Street of Forgotten Men

1925 film

August 24, 1925 (1925-08-24)

^[1]

Running time

7 reels
(6,366 feet; approximately 82 minutes)^[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Street of Forgotten Men is a 1925 American silent crime melodrama film directed by Herbert Brenon and released by Paramount Pictures. The film features the debut of actress Louise Brooks in an uncredited role.

Plot

As described in a film magazine reviews,^[2] Portland Fancy, a bowery woman, dies, leaving her daughter of four in the care of Easy Money Charlie, a beggar who fakes a stump arm on the streets of New York City. True to his promise, Charlie rears the girl away from the bowery in beautiful environment, never confessing his faking method of earning a living. A beautiful young woman, she grows up to become engaged to a young attorney who is in a smart social set. Charlie tells Peyton, her fiancé, what a grafter he is and then departs for Australia. The young woman is married to Peyton on a night shortly after the secret return of Charlie, who is now thought dead. Charlie returns to his only way of livelihood after he has thrashed White Eye for trying to blackmail Peyton.

Cast

Percy Marmont as Easy Money Charley
Neil Hamilton as Philip Peyton
Mary Brian as Mary Vanhern
John Harrington as Bridgeport White-Eye
Juliet Brenon as Portland Fancy
Josephine Deffry as Dutch Molly
Riley Hatch as Diamond Mike
Agostino Borgato as Adolphe
Albert Roccardi as Adolphe's Assistant
Dorothy Walters as Widow McKee
Lassie as a dog
Louise Brooks as A Moll (uncredited)
Whitney Bolton as A Bum (uncredited)^[3]
Anita Louise as Flower Girl (uncredited)
Harry Lewis as saloon patron (uncredited)^[4]
Elizabeth Meehan as woman on street (uncredited)^[5]
John J. Kiernan as street car conductor (uncredited)^[6]

Production

Filming

Production began on April 6 and finished around June 6th. The film was shot at Paramount’s Astoria Studios in Astoria, Queens. Location shooting was done elsewhere on Long Island as well as on the streets of Manhattan, including on Fifth Avenue and at the landmark Little Church Around the Corner.^[7]

Preservation

The Library of Congress has an incomplete print of the film, consisting of six of the seven reels.^[8] The reel which does not survive is the second reel of the film, which includes the deaths of two characters, Portland Fancy, and the dog taken care of by Easy Money Charlie. In March 2022, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival announced a major restoration of the film.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b "The Street of Forgotten Men (1925)", catalog, American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles, California, Retrieved July 21, 2019.
^ "New Pictures: The Street of Forgotten Men", Exhibitors Herald, 22 (9), Chicago, Illinois: Exhibitors Herald Company: 55, August 22, 1925, retrieved August 1, 2022 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "Actors in uncredited bit parts in The Street of Forgotten Men, part 3 Whitney Bolton " Louise Brooks Society blog, April 18, 2022
^ Gladysz, Thomas. The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. PandorasBox Press, 2023. ISBN 979-8-218-209858. p. 315
^ Gladysz, Thomas. The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. PandorasBox Press, 2023. ISBN 979-8-218-209858. p. 313-314
^ Gladysz, Thomas. The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. PandorasBox Press, 2023. ISBN 979-8-218-209858. p. 319
^ The Street of Forgotten Men (filmography page) at Louise Brooks Society
^ Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at the Library of Congress (<-book title) p.176 c.1978 by The American Film Institute
^ "Restored Silent Film ‘The Street of Forgotten Men’ Debuts Louise Brooks", Pop Matters, March 31, 2022