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The Land of Promise

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The Land of Promise
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Directed byJoseph Kaufman
Written byCharles Whittaker (scenario)
Based onThe Land of Promise
by W. Somerset Maugham
Produced byFlorenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Adolph Zukor
Jesse L. Lasky
StarringBillie Burke
Thomas Meighan
CinematographyWilliam Marshall
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 9, 1917 (1917-12-09)
Running time
5 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Land of Promise is a 1917 American silent comedy drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Joseph Kaufman and starred Billie Burke and Thomas Meighan. The film is based on the 1913 play The Land of Promise by W. Somerset Maugham, in which Burke starred.

The film was remade in 1926 by Paramount as The Canadian with Thomas Meighan reprising his role as Frank Taylor.

Plot

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As described in a film magazine,[1] when her employer dies, leaving her penniless, Nora Marsh (Burke) decides to make her home with her brother Edward (Johnston) in Canada. However, she cannot get along with her sister-in-law Gertie (Alden) and she has to find a way out of the house. A hired man, Frank Taylor (Meighan) owns a farm of his own but a storm has destroyed his crops and forced him to work. Shortly after Nora's arrival he leaves for his farm but not before Nora hears him remarking that he intends to get a woman to be his wife and housekeeper, to which Nora decides to take a chance. They get married and he takes her to his house where Nora finally feels she has found a home but before long, Taylor's crops are infested and his entire harvest is destroyed. At the same time, Nora receives some money from England and is thinking of leaving Taylor and moving there but when she learns that he will have to be a hired man again, she decides to stay and give him the money she received so they could save his farm.

Cast

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Preservation status

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The House That Shadows Built (1931) promotional film by Paramount, contains an unidentified Billie Burke clip almost certainly from The Land of Promise. Other than this brief clip, this is considered a lost film.[2][3][4]

References

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  1. ^ "Reviews: The Land of Promise". Exhibitors Herald. 5 (24). New York: Exhibitors Herald Company: 23–24. December 8, 1917.
  2. ^ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Film Institute, c. 1988
  3. ^ The AFI Catalog of Feature Films:The Land of Promise Wayback)
  4. ^ The Land of Promise as produced on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre by Charles Frohman, Dec. 25, 1913 to May 1914, 76 performances; IBDb.com
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