Wikipedia

Mantrap(1926 film)

Mantrapis a 1926 Americansilentcomedy filmbased on thenovel of the same namebySinclair Lewis.MantrapstarsClara Bow,Percy Marmont,Ernest Torrence,Ford Sterling,andEugene Pallette,and was directed byVictor Fleming.[1]

Mantrap
Directed byVictor Fleming
Written byEthel Doherty
Adelaide Heilbron
George Marion Jr.(titles)
Based onMantrap
bySinclair Lewis
Produced byB.P. Schulberg
Hector Turnbull
StarringClara Bow
Percy Marmont
Ernest Torrence
Ford Sterling
Eugene Pallette
CinematographyJames Wong Howe
Edited byAdelaide Cannon
Production
company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • July 24, 1926(1926-07-24)(U.S.)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent(Englishintertitles)

Plot

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Mantrap(1926)

Ralph Prescott (Marmont) is aNew Yorkdivorce lawyer tired of his clientele. Woodbury (Pallette), who runs a ladies hosiery business across the hall, suggests that they get away from the city and camp in Mantrap, Canada. Bachelor Joe Easter (Torrence) runs a dry-goods store in Mantrap. Joe, wanting female company, goes to Minneapolis. In a barbershop there, backwoods Joe meets flirtatiousmanicuristAlverna (Bow), who agrees to meet Joe for dinner.

Prescott and Woodbury fight while camping. Joe separates them by taking Prescott back to Mantrap—where Prescott meets Alverna, now married to Joe and bored with backwoods life. Alverna throws a party and flirts, especially with Prescott, who is attracted to her but honorable enough to leave the next day. Alverna waits for Prescott's outbound canoe, stops him, and tells him that she's leaving with him. Alverna insults their Native American guide, who takes the canoe, leaving Prescott and Alverna on their own in the woods. They flag down a passing float plane, which lands in the lake. Alverna flirts with the pilot, angering Prescott. The pilot leaves them some food.

Joe tracks them and, after a few days, catches them. Prescott tells Joe he will marry Alverna if Joe grants a divorce; Joe counters by telling Prescott that Alverna will never stop flirting. Alverna, shut out by the men who are planning her future, takes the canoe and leaves them both.

Prescott returns to his law practice, refreshed by his time in the woods. Joe, lonely in his Mantrap store, defends Alverna to his prudish neighbors—and Alverna returns to Joe, but keeps flirting.

Cast

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Left to right:Ernest Torrence,Clara Bow,andPercy Marmont

Reception

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Mantrapad inMotion Picture News,1926

Lewis himself was not a fan of the 1926 adaptation. In the introduction to their 1985 edition of Claude Lewis' journal of their Saskatchewan trip,John J. KoblasandDave Pagerecount that while Sinclair Lewis was writingElmer Gantry,he and his brother and Claude's wife went to the small theatre inPequot Lake,where Sinclair was writing. The only film playing wasMantrap.The editors continue:

"Following the movie, the manager of the theatre, who had during the course of the film recognized Red Lewis in the audience, proudly announced that the author ofMantrapwas present and requested that he come on stage and address the moviegoers. Lewis was quick to comply, and he shocked both the manager and the audience by stating he was glad he had read the book, for he would not have recognized it from the movie. "[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Progressive Silent Film List:Mantrap(1926)at silentera
  2. ^Lewis, Claude.Sinclair Lewis and Mantrap: The Saskatchewan Trip.Edited with an Introduction by Koblas, John J. & Dave Page. Madison: The Main Street Press, 1985, p. xxi-xxii.
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