Bella Donna (1923 film)

Bella Donna
Lobby card with Pola Negri and Adolphe Menjou
Directed by	George Fitzmaurice
Produced by	Adolph Zukor Jesse L. Lasky
Written by	Ouida Bergère (scenario)
Based on	Bella Donna (novel) by Robert Smythe Hichens Bella Donna (play) by James Bernard Fagan
Starring	Pola Negri
Music by	song "Bella Donna" Ted Snyder (music) Harry B. Smith (lyrics)
Cinematography	Arthur C. Miller
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release dates	April 1, 1923 (1923-04-01)
Running time	8 reels (7895 to 7903 feet)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Bella Donna is a 1923 American silent film produced by Famous Players-Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. The film is based on a novel, Bella Donna, by Robert Smythe Hichens which was later adapted for a 1912 Broadway play starring Alla Nazimova. This film is also a remake of the 1915 Paramount film Bella Donna starring Pauline Frederick. The 1923 film was directed by George Fitzmaurice and starred Pola Negri in her first American film.^[1]^[2]

Phonofilm version

Reportedly the film played with sound provided by the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process. This was probably music and sound effects but no dialogue, and was only at the April 1, 1923 premiere at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City.

Paramount also premiered The Covered Wagon in New York City on March 16, 1923. All or about two reels of The Covered Wagon had a music track recorded in the Phonofilm process, but was only shown this way at the premiere at the Rivoli Theater in New York City.^[3] On April 15, 1923, Lee DeForest presented a program of 18 short films made in the Phonofilm process, also at the Rivoli Theater.

Preservation status

A print is reportedly held at the Gosfilmofond Archive in Moscow.^[4]^[5]

Cast

Pola Negri - Bella Donna
Conway Tearle - Mahmoud Baroudi
Conrad Nagel - Nigel Armine
Adolphe Menjou - Mr. Chepstow
Claude King - Doctor Meyer Isaacson
Lois Wilson - Patricia
Antonio Corsi - Fortune Teller
Macey Harlam - Ibrahim
Robert Schable - Doctor Hartley

References

↑ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films:1921-30 c.1971 by The American Film Institute
↑ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:Bella Donna
↑ SilentEra entry for The Covered Wagon
↑ "Bella Donna". silentera.com.
↑ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:Bella Donna

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bella Donna (1923 film).

Bella Donna at the Internet Movie Database
Bella Donna at SilentEra
Bella Donna synopsis at AllMovie
Bella Donna at Virtual History
Sheet music cover with tie-in to movie poster for Bella Donna

Films directed by George Fitzmaurice

1910s	Stop Thief! (1915) The Commuters (1915) At Bay (1915) New York (1916) The Test (1916) Arms and the Woman (1916) The Romantic Journey (1916) Kick In (1917) The Hunting of the Hawk (1917) The Recoil (1917) The Iron Heart (1917) Blind Man's Luck (1917) The On-the-Square Girl (1917) The Mark of Cain (1917) Sylvia of the Secret Service (1917) Innocent (1918) The Naulahka (1918) The Hillcrest Mystery (1918) A Japanese Nightingale (1918) The Narrow Path (1918) Common Clay (1919) The Cry of the Weak (1919) The Profiteers (1919) The Avalanche (1919) Our Better Selves (1919) A Society Exile (1919) The Witness for the Defense (1919) Counterfeit (1919)

1920s	On with the Dance (1920) The Right to Love (1920) Idols of Clay (1920) Forever (1921) Paying the Piper (1921) Experience (1921) Kick In (1922) To Have and to Hold (1922) Three Live Ghosts (1922) The Man from Home (1922) The Cheat (1923) Bella Donna (1923) The Eternal City (1923) Cytherea (1924) A Thief in Paradise (1925) His Supreme Moment (1925) The Dark Angel (1925) The Son of the Sheik (1926) The Night of Love (1927) Rose of the Golden West (1927) The Love Mart (1927) The Barker (1928) Lilac Time (1928) The Locked Door (1929) Tiger Rose (1929)

1930s	The Bad One (1930) Raffles (1930) The Devil to Pay! (1930) One Heavenly Night (1931) Strangers May Kiss (1931) The Unholy Garden (1931) Mata Hari (1931) As You Desire Me (1932) Rockabye uncredited Nana (1934) All Men Are Enemies (1934) Petticoat Fever (1936) Suzy (1936) The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1937) The Emperor's Candlesticks (1937) Live, Love and Learn (1937) Arsene Lupin Returns (1938) Vacation from Love (1938)

1940s	Adventure in Diamonds (1940)

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