Detail view of Movies Page

Movie Detail

Name Occurs Before Title

Offscreen Credit

Print Viewed By AFI

The Sporting Duchess

Director: George Terwilliger (Dir) Release Date: Mar 1920 Duration (in reels): 7			Print this page Display Movie Summary

Cast:	Alice Joyce	(Muriel, Duchess of Desborough)
	Percy Marmont	(Douglas, Duke of Desborough)
	G. V. Seyffertitz	(Major Roland Mostyn)
	Edith Campbell Walker	(Mrs. Delmaine)
	Lionel Pape	(Captain Cyprian Streatfield)
	John Goldsworthy	(Rupert Leigh)
	Dan Comfort	(Harold)
	May McAvoy	(Mary Aylmer)
	Robert Agnew	(Dick Hammond)
	William Turner	(Joseph Aylmer)
	Edward Keenan	(Jockey)
	C. T. Elmer

Summary:

Coveting the Duke of Desborough's prize race horse "Clipstone," Major Roland Mostyn schemes to destroy his rival and thus obtain possession of the animal. After framing the duke's wife Muriel in a false adultery suit which results in divorce, Mostyn ruins the young duke at cards, thus forcing him to auction his horse in order to pay his debts. Muriel, heartbroken by the separation, persuades her old friend Captain Streatfield to purchase the horse and enter him in the derby. Mostyn bets all his money on his horse and attempts to fix the race but his plot is discovered and Clipstone wins the contest. After Muriel's innocence is proven, Mostyn's villainy towards the duke is finally stopped and the couple is happily reunited.

Production Company:	Vitagraph Co. of America
Brand Name:	A Vitagraph Special
Distribution Company:	Vitagraph Co. of America
Director:	George Terwilliger	(Dir)
Writer:	Lucien Hubbard	(Scen)
Photography:	Joe Shelderfer	(Cam)
	Charles Davis	(Cam)
Country:	United States

Source Text:	Based on the play The Sporting Duchess by Augustus Harris, Cecil Raleigh, Henry Hamilton (New York, 29 Aug 1895).
Authors:	Henry Hamilton
	Cecil Raleigh
	Augustus Harris

Copyright Claimant	Copyright Date	Copyright Number
Vitagraph Co. of America	28/2/1920 dd/mm/yyyy	LP14809

Physical Properties:	b&w:
	Si:


Genre:	Melodrama

Subjects (Major):	Divorce
	Frame-ups
	Horseracing
	Remarriage
	Rivalry

Subjects (Minor):	Auctions
	Cardsharping
	Wagers

Note:	The racing scenes in this film were shot in New Orleans, LA; Rye, NY; Stamford, CT; and various spots on Long Island, NY.

Bibliographic Sources:	Date	Page
ETR	13 Mar 20	p. 1569.
MPN	24 Jan 20	p. 1066.
MPN	7 Feb 20	p. 1423.
MPN	19 May 17	p. 1140.
MPN	13 Mar 20	p. 259.
MPW	24 Jan 20	p. 591.
MPW	31 Jan 20	p. 681.
MPW	13 Mar 20	p. 1840.
New York Morning Telegraph	7 Mar 1920.
New York Times	1 Mar 20	p. 16.
Variety	5 Mar 20	p. 63.
Wid's	7 Mar 20	p. 2.

	Display Movie Summary
The American Film Institute is grateful to Sir Paul Getty KBE and the Sir Paul Getty KBE Estate for their dedication to the art of the moving image and their support for the AFI Catalog of Feature Films and without whose support AFI would not have been able to achieve this historical landmark in this epic scholarly endeavor.



Limited To:
Video Availability
Advanced Search
Join AFI
Login