The Scarlet Letter (1926)

Director:

Victor Sjöström

Writers:

Nathaniel Hawthorne (novel)
Frances Marion (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

8 January 1927 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Plot:

In Puritan Boston, seamstress Hester Prynne is punished for playing on the Sabbath day; but kindly minister Arthur Dimmesdale takes pity on her...

Plot Keywords:

Seamstress | Adultery | Minister | Love | Church

Cast

Lillian Gish	...	Hester Prynne
Lars Hanson	...	The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale
Henry B. Walthall	...	Roger Chillingworth
Karl Dane	...	Master Giles
William H. Tooker	...	The Governor
Marcelle Corday	...	Mistress Hibbins
Fred Herzog	...	The Jailer
Jules Cowles	...	The Beadle
Mary Hawes	...	Patience
Joyce Coad	...	Pearl
James A. Marcus	...	A Sea Captain
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nora Cecil	...	(uncredited)
Dorothy Gray	...	Child (uncredited)
Margaret Mann	...	(uncredited)
Polly Moran	...	Jeering Townswoman (uncredited)
Chief Yowlachie	...	Indian (uncredited)

Directed by
Victor Sjöström		(as Victor Seastrom)

Writing credits
Nathaniel Hawthorne		(novel)
Frances Marion		(adaptation and scenario)
Frances Marion		(titles)

Produced by
Victor Sjöström	....	producer (as Victor Seastrom)

Original Music by
Lisa Anne Miller		(2000)
Mark Northam		(2000)
William Axt		(uncredited)
David Mendoza		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Hendrik Sartov		(as Henrik Sartov)

Film Editing by
Hugh Wynn

Set Decoration by
Cedric Gibbons		(settings)
Sidney Ullman		(settings)

Costume Design by
Max Rée

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Harold S. Bucquet	....	assistant director (as Harold Bucquet)

Production Companies

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Inc.)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1926) (USA) (theatrical)
• Turner Entertainment (USA) (TV) (as Turner Entertainment Company) (2000 restored version)

Also Known As:

A Mulher Marcada (Portugal) [pt]
Der rote Buchstabe (Austria) [de]
La mujer marcada (Spain) [es]
Punainen kirjain (Finland) [fi]
Tulipunainen kirjain (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

Sweden:115 min | 98 min (2000 restored version)

Country:

USA

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Silent

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Iverson Ranch, Chatsworth, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Lillian Gish learned that her mother had had a stroke in London and her sister, Dorothy Gish, urged her to get there on the first available boat. When Lillian informed director Victor Sjöström of the need to finish the film quickly, he created a shooting schedule that crammed two weeks worth of shooting into three days of non-stop work. The crew worked without complaint so that she could finish the film early and catch the earliest possible train to New York.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "MGM: When the Lion Roars" (1992)

Beauty on film

After years of desperately wanting to see this movie I finally got hold of a copy of it. I put the DVD in the machine and waited with baited breath, was the film going to be as wonderful as the other commenters(?)had rated it? was it going to be anywhere near as good as the other Gish/Hanson/Seastrom collaboration "The Wind"? Well, the answer was that it was everything I hoped for and more. The version I saw a recording of TCM's restoration so the quality of the print veered from superb to not quite so good, but, in all honesty that did not matter as I soon got caught up in the story of Hester Prynne and the Rev. Dimmesdale. The acting was superb by all the cast, the direction was excellent and the whole setting of the movie was outstanding. It still amazes me who there are those who will not watch a silent movie, are you crazy? This version is a million miles better than the Demi Moore/Gary Oldman version made 70 years later, the chemistry between Gish and Hanson is perfect, the child actress Joyce Coad who plays Pearl, the love child, is delightful and Henry Walthall is menacing as Roger Chillingworth, Karl Dane also deserves mentioning as Master Giles in a slightly comedic role. The only downside to the movie and it had nothing to do with the movie itself was that I bought it from a guy who contacted me via IMDb and led me to believe it was his own print, I paid $52 for a TV recording off TCM. He is contacting people concerning vintage movies so beware if someone offers to get a print of that vintage movie you want to see.