Peter Pan (1924)

Director:

Herbert Brenon

Writers:

J.M. Barrie (play)
Willis Goldbeck (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 December 1924 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Family

Plot:

Peter Pan enters the nursery of the Darling children and, with the help of fairy dust, leads them off to Never Never Land, where they meet the nefarious Captain Hook.

Plot Keywords:

Children | Peter Pan | Fairy | Fairy Dust | Pirate Ship

Awards:

1 win

Cast

George Ali	...	Nana the Dog
Esther Ralston	...	Mrs. Darling
Cyril Chadwick	...	Mr. Darling
Mary Brian	...	Wendy Moira Angela Darling
Jack Murphy	...	John Napoleon Darling
Philippe De Lacy	...	Michael Nicholas Darling (as Philippe deLacy)
Virginia Brown Faire	...	Tinker Bell (as Virginia Browne Faire)
Betty Bronson	...	Peter Pan
Anna May Wong	...	Tiger Lily
Maurice Murphy	...	Tootles
Mickey McBan	...	Slightly
George Crane Jr.	...	Curly
Winston Doty	...	First Twin
Weston Doty	...	Second Twin
Terence McMillan	...	Nibs

Also Known As:

O daimon Peter Pan (Greece) [el]
Peter Pan (Spain) [es]
Peter Pan, der Traumelf (Germany) [de]

Runtime:

105 min | Spain:101 min

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Filming Locations:

Santa Catalina Island, Channel Islands, California, USA

Company:

Famous Players-Lasky Corporation

Trivia:

Nearly all of the intertitles are taken directly from J.M. Barrie's dialogue for the play.

Quotes:

[first title card]
Title Card: A NOTE / On the Acting of a Fairy Play / The difference between a Fairy Play and a realistic one is that in the former all the characters are really children with a child's outlook on life. This applies to the so-called adults of the story as well as the young people. Pull the beard off the fairy king, and you would find the face of a child.
Title Card: This, then, is the spirit of the play. And it is necessary that all of you ~ no matter what age you may have individually attained ~ should be children. PETER PAN will laughingly blow the fairy dust in your eyes and presto! You'll all be back in the nursery, and once more you'll believe in fairies, and the play moves on. / J.M. Barrie

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Susan Slept Here (1954)

A Piece of Magic

The story of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, who comes to the Darling house searching for his shadow and meets the three children (Wendy, Michael, & John) and takes them back to Never Never Land and to the Lost Boys. Captain Hook, who wants revenge against Peter for the loss of his right hand to an alligator, leads his band of pirates on a raid of the woods, kidnapping everyone, save Peter who must travel to Hook's ship for the rescue. This film has such a childlike magic charm that gives it a different appeal to the Disney & Mary Martin versions of the story. Director Brenon uses a stationary approach to the camerawork, giving the film the appearance of a stage production. Betty Bronson made full use of her ballerina skills and puts so much energy in her role. Torrence hams up his role of Hook like any actor would. Probably the best performance I felt was George Ali as Nana, the dog, putting so much life into the character. Only problem I felt, was the film lost some of its magic after Peter and the children left the Darling house. A touching and perfect film still for all ages and probably the one silent film to start the youngsters off with. Rating, 9.