The Private Life of Helen of Troy
The Private Life of Helen of Troy is a 1927 American silent film about Helen of Troy based on the 1925 novel of the same name by John Erskine, and adapted to screen by Gerald Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Korda and starred María Corda as Helen, Lewis Stone as Menelaus, and Ricardo Cortez as Paris.
The Private Life of Helen of Troy | |
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Directed by | Alexander Korda |
Produced by | Richard A. Rowland |
Written by | John Erskine (novel) Gerald C. Duffy (intertitles) Ralph Spence (intertitles) Casey Robinson (intertitles) |
Starring | María Corda Lewis Stone Ricardo Cortez |
Music by | Carl Edouarde Cecil Copping (NYC premiere, uncredited) |
Cinematography | Lee Garmes Sidney Hickox |
Edited by | Harold Young |
Distributed by | First National Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 57 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | Silent |
Coming at the end of the silent film era, it was nominated for an Academy Award in 1929, the year of the Awards' inception, in the category of Best Title Writing. Duffy died on June 25, 1928, and was the first person to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award.
That same year, the first "talkie", The Jazz Singer, received an honorary award for introducing sound to film, and the category for which The Private Life of Helen of Troy was nominated was dropped by the second Academy Awards.
Two sections from the beginning and end, running about 27–30 minutes in total, are reportedly all that survive of The Private Life of Helen of Troy; they are preserved by the British Film Institute.[1][2]
Cast
- María Corda - Helen
- Lewis Stone - Menelaus
- Ricardo Cortez - Paris
- George Fawcett - Eteoneus
- Alice White - Adraste
- Bill Elliott - Telemachus
- Tom O'Brien - Ulysses
- Bert Sprotte - Achilles
- Mario Carillo - Ajax
- Charles Puffy - Malapokitoratoreadetos
- George Kotsonaros - Hector
- Emilio Gorgato - Sarpedon
- Constantine Romanoff - Aeneas
- Alice Adair - Aphrodite
- Helen Fairweather - Athena