The Echo of Youth
Ad for film
Directed byIvan Abramson
Written byIvan Abramson
Produced byGraphic Film Corporation[1]
Release date
  • February 1919 (1919-02)
Running time
6 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Echo of Youth is a lost[2] 1919 American silent drama film written and directed by Ivan Abramson, and featuring Charles Richman, Leah Baird, Pearl Shepard, and Marie Shotwell.

Plot

Cabaret singer Olive Martin (played by Baird) approaches her former lover Peter Graham (Richman), just recently elevated to the Supreme Court, about the fact that he is the father of her out-of-wedlock son. To avoid exposing this scandal, Olive demands that Peter divorce his wife (played by Shotwell) and marry her. Meanwhile, the alleged son, Harold (played by Jack McLean) is falling in love in Boston with Anita (Pearl Shepherd)—who is Peter's daughter with his wife. News of their engagement and impending incestuous marriage requires Peter to divulge what he knows and forbid the marriage. In typical Abramson fashion, however, it is revealed that Olive has lied about Harold being her son—instead he is the son of Olive's brother-in-law merely being used by Olive for blackmail! Peter's plan to commit suicide is successfully stopped, and the wedding free to proceed.[3][4]

Cast

Background

Released in February 1919, the film was the last picture Abramson directed for Graphic Film Corporation while it was a joint venture with William Randolph Hearst.[5] The reviews for the movie were negative, aside from those issued by Hearst's papers.[5] The Chicago Tribune, for example, called it "awful" and the "worst picture on the docket."[4][6][7]

References

  1. ^ (28 April 1919). Advertisement, The Beaver County Times
  2. ^ The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ..The Echo of Youth
  3. ^ Allrovi Review, Retrieved May 10, 2012
  4. ^ a b (2 February 1919). Sex Meller Drags Most of the Way and Doesn't Convince, Wid's Daily, p. 13
  5. ^ a b Pizzitola, Louis. Hearst over Hollywood, p. 133, 177-78 (2002)("On the heels of the Big Five's rebuff of Hearst, the last Abramson- directed film for Graphic, called The Echo of Youth, was released in early February. Except for the Hearst press, reviews were universally poor.")
  6. ^ (2 May 1919). This Is the Worst Picture on the Docket - The Echo of Youth, Chicago Tribune ("... if twice in one month did I have to sit through things like "The Echo of Youth.")
  7. ^ (2 May 1919). Leah Baird, Chicago Tribune ("Sometime They Are Going to Give Her a Good Picture Again. 'The Echo of Youth' Is Awful.")

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Echo of Youth.
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