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The Ring and the Book
(1914) United States of America
B&W : Short film
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Jack Drumier [Pietro], Mrs. A.C. Marston [Violante], Hector V. Sarno [Guido], Mrs. LaVarnie (Laura La Varnie) [Guido’s mother], Marie Newton [Pompilia], Alan Hale [a priest], Edward Cecil [Caponsacchi]
Biograph Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / From a poem by Robert Browning. / Released 22 September 1914. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Violante, wife of Pietro, a wealthy Italian of low rank, discovers that, by the terms of her husband’s will, relatives may claim the estate unless she bears a child. She passes off a foundling as her daughter, and the girl Pompilia is beloved by her foster father. She is still a child when Violante, seeking to advance her own social standing, schemes to marry her to Count Guido, an adventurer, who, after the secret marriage, claims his bride and her dowry. Violante, seeing the entire estate in danger of passing out of her hands, discloses the secret of Pompilia’s birth, and shows that she has no claim on the property. Guido, enraged, bides his time in wreaking vengeance on his dowerless bride. Her distress under his cruelty arousing the pity of Caponsacchi, a canon, Guido forces Pompilia to write a letter to the prelate, asking his aid. He replies that he is a priest and she a wedded wife, but Guido destroys this letter and substitutes a declaration of passionate love from Caponsacchi. The priest, determined to aid the unhappy wife, dons the dress of a cavalier and goes to her window at night. She flees with him to an inn, whither they are pursued by Guido and his miscreants. The tremendous situations which follow, ending in the execution of Guido and his band as murderers, are among the most dramatic ever conceived.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 11 October 2023.
References: Spehr-American p. 3 : Website-IMDb.
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