Pampered Youth
Pampered Youth is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by David Smith and starring Cullen Landis, Alice Calhoun, and Allan Forrest. It is an adaption of the 1918 novel The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington.[1][2] It was one of the final films produced by Vitagraph Studios before the firm was absorbed into Warner Bros.
| Pampered Youth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | David Smith |
| Written by | Jay Pilcher |
| Based on | The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington |
| Produced by | Albert E. Smith |
| Starring | Cullen Landis Alice Calhoun Allan Forrest |
| Cinematography | W. Steve Smith Jr. |
Production company | Vitagraph Company of America |
| Distributed by | Vitagraph Company of America |
Release date |
|
Running time | 70 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
Plot
As described in a review in a film magazine,[3] twenty-five or thirty years ago, every small town boasted of its Amberson family, whose home was the show place and whose every move made news. Major Amberson's (King) daughter Isabel (Calhoun) loves Eugene Morgan (Forrest), but he gets himself in disgrace by performing a drunken serenade, and leaves town. Isabel marries Wilbur Minafer (MacDonald), a poor second choice, who makes a very passable husband. Not loving her husband, Isabel centers all of the love in her heart upon her son George, who naturally grows from a very spoiled young boy into a despicable young cad. His extravagances eventually deplete the Amberson fortune. When his father dies, George resents his mother's love for Morgan, who has returned as a prosperous automobile manufacturer. George has come to love, however, Morgan's daughter Lucy (Merriam). The death of Major Amberson forces George to go to work, bringing about his regeneration. Then there is the heroic rescue of Isabel by Morgan when the home in which she lodges burns. The final tableau suggests the rehabilitation of George.
Cast
- Cullen Landis as George Minafer
- Ben Alexander as George Minafer, as a child
- Allan Forrest as Eugene Morgan
- Alice Calhoun as Isabel Minafer
- Emmett King as Major Amberson
- Wallace MacDonald as Wilbur Minafer
- Charlotte Merriam as Lucy Morgan
- Kathryn Adams as Fanny Minafer
- Aggie Herring as Mrs. Foster
- William Irving as George Amberson
Preservation
The complete feature is a lost film. However, a 28 minute abridgement survives[4] and it was included on the Criterion edition of The Magnificent Ambersons Blu-Ray release.
References
- Goble p. 901
- Progressive Silent Film List: Pampered Youth at silentera.com
- Sargent, Epes W. (February 21, 1925). "Pampered Youth; David Smith Vividly Realizes Booth Tarkinton's Prize Novel, The Magnificent Ambersons, for Vitagraph". The Moving Picture World. New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co. 72 (8): 785–786. Retrieved September 11, 2021.
- Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Pampered Youth
Bibliography
- Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
