Poor Relations
| Poor Relations | |
|---|---|
 Contemporary advertisement | |
| Directed by | King Vidor |
| Written by | King Vidor |
| Starring | Florence Vidor |
| Cinematography | Ira H. Morgan |
| Distributed by | Robertson-Cole |
Release date |
|
Running time | 50 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent with English intertitles |
Poor Relationsis a 1919 Americansilentdrama filmdirected byKing Vidor.[1]Produced by the Brentwood Corporation, the film starred Vidor’s wifeFlorence Vidorand featured comedienneZasu Pitts.[2]
The picture is the final of fourChristian Scienceprecept films that represent a brief phase in Vidor’s output championing the superiority of self-healing through moral strength and supplemented by the benefits of rural living.[3]
Plot
[edit]Country girl Dorothy Perkins succeeds as an architect in the city, but then is scorned by her old-money in-laws.[4]
Cast
[edit]- Florence Vidoras Dorothy Perkins
- Lillian Leightonas Ma Perkins
- William De Vaullas Pa Perkins (as William Du Vaull)
- Roscoe Karnsas Henry
- ZaSu Pittsas Daisy Perkins
- Charles Meredithas Monty Rhodes
Reception
[edit]The reviews were "poor".Exhibitors Trade Reviewobserved that "the slender, fragile story has just about all it can do to make its way through the new-mown hay atmosphere."[5]
Theme
[edit]Poor Relations provides an early example of Vidor’s “feminist” presentation of professional and independent women, emphasizing reciprocal exchanges between the sexes.[6]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^"Progressive Silent Film List: Poor Relations".Silent Era.RetrievedNovember 5,2010.
- ^Baxter 1976 p. 9
- ^(Gustafssson 2016: “The film “advocated views associated with Christian Science (not to be confused withScientology,a then relatively new religious movement that came about towards the end of the 19th century and to which Vidor claimed allegiance.”
Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 26
Baxter 1976 p. 9 - ^Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 337
- ^Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 337: ETR 25 October 1919.
- ^Durgnat and Simmons, 1988 p. 15: Vidor a “natural feminist” in that his female protagonists “drive men crazy, or inspire them, and do what they want, without becoming superior beings.” and the “reciprocity [between men and women] constitute its mainspring.”
Baxter 1976 p. 14: Baxter identifiesThe Real AdventureandWoman, Wake Up,both 1922, as early feminist cinema by Vidor.
References
[edit]- Baxter, John. 1976.King Vidor.Simon & Schuster, Inc. Monarch Film Studies. LOC Card Number 75-23544.
- Durgnat, Raymondand Simmon, Scott. 1988.King Vidor, American.University of California Press, Berkeley.ISBN0-520-05798-8
- Gustafsson, Fredrik.2016.King Vidor, An American RomanticLa furia umana. LFU/28 Winter 2016.http://www.lafuriaumana.it/index.php/61-archive/lfu-28/548-fredrik-gustafsson-king-vidor-an-american-romanticRetrieved 4 June 2020.