The Venus Model

The Venus Model
The Venus Model
	1918 advertisement
Directed by	Clarence G. Badger
Starring	Mabel Normand
Cinematography	J.C. Bitzer
Distributed by	Goldwyn Pictures
Release date	June 16, 1918;
Running time	50 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Venus Model is a 1918 American silent romantic comedy film starring Mabel Normand and directed by Clarence G. Badger. The film was made at the beginning of the 20th century when Goldwyn Pictures and many early film studios in America's first motion picture industry were based in Fort Lee, New Jersey.^[1] It is not known whether the film currently survives,^[2] and it may be a lost film.

Plot

As described in a film magazine,^[3] Kitty O'Brien (Normand), a seamstress in the factory of Braddock & Co., in an effort to escape punishment from the foreman she had mimicked, flees into the manager's office. While explaining her presence she shows a bathing suit she has designed, John Braddock (Francis) embraces the idea and the display of the suit brings orders galore. When Braddock is compelled to take a rest, Kitty takes charge of the plant. She gives a young male applicant a job as office boy, but discovers he is the son of her employer, Paul Braddock (La Rocque), expelled from college. She frees him from an indiscreet love affair and, with the return of the elder Braddock, a romance is culminated.

Cast

Mabel Normand as Kitty O'Brien
Rod La Rocque as Paul Braddock
Alec B. Francis as John Braddock
Alfred Hickman as Nathan Bergman
Edward Elkas as Briggs
Edward Boulden as Bagley
Albert Hackett as Boy
Una Trevelyn as Hattie Fanshawe
Nadia Gary as 'Dimples' Briggs

Reception

Like many American films of the time, The Venus Model was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors cut, in Reel 4, the intertitle "Well, you be at my apartment tonight and dig up $10,000".^[4]

References

^ Koszarski, Richard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8
^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Venus Model at silentera.com
^ "Reviews: The Venus Model". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (1). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 45. June 29, 1918.
^ "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (2). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 31. July 6, 1918.

External links

The Venus Model in the New York Times
The Venus Model at IMDb

This article about a romantic comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This article related to an American film of the 1910s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Koszarski, Richard (2004), Fort Lee: The Film Town, Rome, Italy: John Libbey Publishing -CIC srl, ISBN 0-86196-653-8

[2] Progressive Silent Film List: The Venus Model at silentera.com

[3] "Reviews: The Venus Model". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (1). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 45. June 29, 1918.

[4] "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. 7 (2). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 31. July 6, 1918.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]