Dusk to Dawn

Dusk to Dawn is a 1922 American silent drama film directed by King Vidor and starring Florence Vidor. A premiere was held on September 2, 1922 at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.

Plot

An Indian maid and American girl share a single soul which shifts between them each day when they are awake.

Cast

Florence Vidor as Marjorie Latham / Aziza
Jack Mulhall as Philip Randall
Truman Van Dyke as Ralph Latham
James Neill as John Latham
Lydia Knott as Mrs. Latham
Herbert Fortier as Mark Randall
Norris Johnson as Babette
Nellie Anderson as Marua
Sidney Franklin as Nadar Gungi
Peter Burke as Itjah Nyhal Singh

Production

Dusk to Dawn would mark the final professional collaboration between King Vidor and Florence Vidor. By the early 1920s, Florence Vidor had emerged as a major film star in her own right and wished to pursue her career independently of her spouse. The couple divorced in 1926, and shortly thereafter Florence married violinist Jascha Heifetz

Theme

Based on a novel The Shuttle Soul by Katherine Hill, the story dramatizes the far Eastern concepts of “migrating souls” advanced by Theopism popular in the United States during the 1920s. Vidor may have identified with Theophist methods of faith healing that were compatible with his Christian Science principles, encouraging positive thinking over medical interventions.

Preservation

Dawn to Dusk is currently considered a Lost Film. In February 2021, the film was cited by the National Film Preservation Board on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list.