| Director | Frank Lloyd |
|---|---|
| Producer | Frank Lloyd |
| Writer | J.G. Hawks |
| Starring | Anna Q. Nilsson Robert Frazer Lionel Barrymore |
| Cinematography | Norbert Brodine |
| Studio | Frank Lloyd Productions |
| Distributor | First National Pictures |
| Released | December 6, 1925 |
| Runtime | 80 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (English intertitles) |
The Splendid Road is a 1925 American historical drama film directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Anna Q. Nilsson, Robert Frazer, and Lionel Barrymore.[1][2] Based upon the novel of the same name by Vingie E. Roe, the film is set during the 1849 California Gold Rush.
Plot
As described in a review in a film magazine,[3] one of the passengers on a ship sailing from Boston around Cape Horn to California is an adventurous young woman, Sandra (Nilsson). A widow dies, and her little girl appeals to Sandra. Rather than split the little family, Sandra adopts all three children, and decides to remain in Sacramento and make a home for them. Chance brings Stanton Halliday (Frazer), an agent for John Grey (Davis), a capitalist, to her rescue and they become attracted to each other. Doctor Bidwell (Earle) loves the capitalist's daughter Lillian (Day) but, believing she loves Halliday, he persuades Sandra that she must give him up or ruin his career. Halliday is ordered to evict Sandra who is a squatter, but he refuses and goes to her rescue. Halliday is shot by Dan Chehollis (Barrymore), a gambler who seeks to force his attentions on Sandra. While convalescing, he learns of Bidwell's action and goes back to Sandra, arriving in time to take her and her family away to safety after a wild wagon ride, as floods have caused the levee to burst and the town is flooded.
Preservation
With no copies of The Splendid Road located in any film archives,[4] it is a lost film.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Goble p. 963
- ^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Splendid Road at silentera.com
- ^ Sewell, Charles S. (19 December 1925). "Through the Box Office Window: The Splendid Road; Vigorous and Realistic Drama of Gold Rush of '49 in Splendid Frank Lloyd Production". The Moving Picture World. 77 (7): 693. New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
- ^ "The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The Splendid Road". memory.loc.gov. Archived 2023-03-21 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2025-07-26.
- ^ The Splendid Road at Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files: Lost First National films - 1925 Archived March 3, 2016 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Goble, Alan (1999). The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 978-3-11-095194-3
External links
- The Splendid Road at IMDb