The House of Bondage


The House of Bondage is a lost 1914 silent film drama directed by Pierce Kingsley and starring Lottie Pickford.
It was adapted from the novel The House of Bondage by Reginald Wright Kauffman.
In a Motion Picture Magazine interview, Pickford mentioned that she disliked the film.

Cast

  • Lottie Pickford as Mary Denbigh
  • Armand Cortes as Max Crossman
  • Susanne Willis as Rose Legere
  • Robert Lawrence as Wesley Dyker
  • Herbert Barrington as Angel
  • Vivian De Wolfe as Katie Flannigan
  • Miss Bancroft as Mrs. Denbigh
  • Brian Darley as Owen Denbigh
  • Clyde Morris as Philip Beekman
  • Amelia Badarracco as Carrie Berkowitz
  • C. Shropshire as Herman Hoffman
  • Anna Jordan as Mrs. Chamberline
  • Julia Walcott as Big Lou
  • Katherine Vaughn as Vivian De Pere
  • Gertie Millar as Sallie Denbigh
  • Marion Coleman as Cisse, Rose's maid
  • De Forrest Dawley as Dyker's clerk
  • Fred Nicholls as District Attorney
  • Della Buckridge as Mrs. Foot
  • Mr. McPhee as Michael
  • George Moss as Evangelist
  • Mrs. Cortes as Mission lady
  • George Ricketts as Doctor
  • Miss Nelson as Fritzie
  • Miss Crane as Wanda
  • Miss Earl as Celeste
  • Miss Gormely as New girl
  • Gerald King as Bill Stevens

Lawsuit

The Social Uplift Company filed a lawsuit against the Photo Drama Motion Picture Company, claiming that the latter did not hold the motion picture rights to the original Kauffman novel. Social Uplift claimed that they had bought the film rights from Joseph Byron Totten, who had previously bought the dramatic rights. Social Uplift sought to restrain Photo Drama from screening a film based upon the novel. Judge Learned Hand of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled on February 10, 1914, in favor of Photo Drama. As a result, Photo Drama was free to exhibit The House of Bondage, and Hand's decision held that the motion picture rights to a copyrighted novel are separate from the dramatic rights.