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The Wonderful Chance

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Director
  
George Archainbaud

Story by
  
H.H. Van Loan

Country
  
United States

6.2/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Crime, Drama

Duration
  

The Wonderful Chance movie poster
Language
  
Silent (English intertitles)

Release date
  
September 27, 1920 (1920-09-27)

Writer
  
H.H. Van Loan (story), Mary Murillo (scenario), Melville Hammett (scenario)

Cast
  
Eugene O'Brien
(Lord Birmingham / 'Swagger' Barlow),
Martha Mansfield
(Peggy Winton),
Tom Blake
('Red' Dugan),
Rudolph Valentino
(Joe Klingsby),
Joseph Flanagan
(Haggerty),
Warren Cook
(Parker Winton)

Screenplay
  
Mary Murillo, Melville Hammett

Related George Archainbaud movies
  
Framed (1930), The Lady Refuses (1931), Thrill of a Lifetime (1937), Three Who Loved (1931), Barbed Wire (1952)

Rudolph valentino in the wonderful chance


The Wonderful Chance (also The Thug and His Wonderful Chance) is a 1920 American silent crime drama film produced by Lewis Selznick and released by Select Pictures. This picture stars Eugene O'Brien in a dual role and was directed by George Archainbaud. While this film survives today in several archives, it is best known for featuring Rudolph Valentino in a villain role rather than the hero. In the 1960s scenes from the film were used in the documentary The Legend of Rudolph Valentino (1961) narrated by Graeme Ferguson.

Contents

Plot

As described in a film magazine, recently released convict 'Swagger' Barlow (O'Brien) is mistaken for Lord Birmingham (O'Brien) and is feted and dined, while the true nobleman is held by a scheming band of crooks. He falls in love with Peggy (Mansfield), the daughter of his host Parker Winton (Cook). Through the actions of Barlow, Lord Birmingham is released. Peggy, after explanations, agrees to wait for Barlow to "come back."

Cast

  • Eugene O'Brien as Lord Birmingham / 'Swagger' Barlow
  • Martha Mansfield as Peggy Winton
  • Tom Blake as 'Red' Dugan
  • Rudolph Valentino as Joe Klinsby
  • Joseph Flanagan as Haggerty (credited as Joe Flanagan)
  • Warren Cook as Parker Winton

    • Production

    Henry Cronjager's use of the "double exposure" method to film an actor on screen in two different roles at the same time, was one of the first uses of this method. This occurs when Eugene O'Brien, in the guise of "Swagger" Barlow, interrogates himself in the persona of Lord Birmingham. Unlike the more common, and easier, method of using a split screen, the use of double exposure allows the actor to appear on the same side of the screen in both roles, in this case allowing Barlow to circle Birmingham.

    Preservation

    Copies of the film are in the George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection and Museum of Modern Art film archive, and it has been released on DVD.

    References

    The Wonderful Chance Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA

    The Wonderful Chance IMDb The Wonderful Chance themoviedb.org


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