The Nightingale (1914 film)

The Nightingale, a drama film directed and written by Augustus Thomas in 1914, is a silent drama film, which Alco Film Corporation released. Ethel Barrymore makes her acting debut in this feature film, which Thomas wrote specifically for her. Thomas, famed as a Broadway playwright, was the best friend of Barrymore's father Maurice, and had known the actress since she was a child. As with many of Barrymore's films to come, the advertising for this film says the film is told in 'acts' as with a stage play, an effort to remind the audience of the star's status and preference for the legitimate stage. This film was long thought to be lost.

Cast

 * Ethel Barrymore as Isola Franti, 'The Nightingale'
 * William Courtleigh as Tony Franti
 * Frank Andrews as Andrea Franti
 * Conway Tearle as Charles Marden
 * Charles A. Stevenson as Nathan Narden
 * Irving Brooks as 'Red' Galvin
 * Mario Majeroni as David Mantz
 * Philip Hahn as Jean de Resni
 * Ida Darling as Mrs. Belmore
 * Bobby Stewart as Nathan Marden II
 * Henri Antiznat as Prefect of Police
 * Frank Dudley as Frank
 * M. Monet as Gazzi Catassi
 * Caroline French as Maid
 * Mrs. Cooper Cliffe as Nola
 * Claude Cooper as Madonni
 * Ed West as Police Sergeant

Production
The story of this film is similar to Clyde Fitch's 1901 play Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines, in which Barrymore became a star playing an Italian opera singer. Fitch had died in 1909, and Charles Frohman, Barrymore's theatrical employer, owned the rights to Captain Jinks. Augustus Thomas, a Barrymore family friend and author, fashioned a similar story for Barrymore, enticing her to make a film with material she was familiar with. This was common practice in the silent era to make a write-around story for popular works for which screen rights could not be obtained.

A screen version of Fitch's Captain Jinks was later made with Ann Murdock.