The Private Life of Helen of Troy

The Private Life of Helen of Troy
The Private Life of Helen of Troy
Directed by	Alexander Korda
Written by	Gerald C. Duffy (intertitles); Ralph Spence (intertitles); Casey Robinson (intertitles)
Based on	The Private Life of Helen of Troy; by John Erskine
Produced by	Richard A. Rowland
Starring	María Corda; Lewis Stone; Ricardo Cortez
Cinematography	Lee Garmes; Sidney Hickox
Edited by	Harold Young
Music by	Carl Edouarde; Cecil Copping (NYC premiere, uncredited)
Distributed by	First National Pictures
Release dates	December 9, 1927 (NYC); January 8, 1928 (Nationwide);
Running time	57 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Private Life of Helen of Troy is a 1927 American silent comedy adventure film about Helen of Troy based on the 1925 novel of the same name by John Erskine, and adapted to screen by Gerald Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Korda and starred María Corda as Helen, Lewis Stone as Menelaus, and Ricardo Cortez as Paris.^[1]

Cast

María Corda as Helen
Lewis Stone as Menelaus
Ricardo Cortez as Paris
George Fawcett as Eteoneus
Alice White as Adraste
Bill Elliott as Telemachus
Tom O'Brien as Ulysses
Bert Sprotte as Achilles
Mario Carillo as Ajax
Charles Puffy as Malapokitoratoreadetos
George Kotsonaros as Hector
Emilio Gorgato as Sarpedon
Constantine Romanoff as Aeneas
Alice Adair as Aphrodite
Helen Fairweather as Athena
Virginia Thomas as Hera
Agostino Borgato (uncredited)
Sonia Karlov (uncredited)
Inez Marion (uncredited)
Jack Stambaugh as Extra (uncredited)
John Westwood as Extra (uncredited)
Clifford Ingram as Chariot Driver (uncredited)
Gusztáv Pártos as Nobleman (uncredited)

Reception

Released at the end of the silent film era, The Private Life of Helen of Troy was nominated for an Academy Award in 1929, the year of the Awards' inception, in the category of Best Title Writing. Duffy died on June 25, 1928, and was the first person to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award.^[2]

That same year, the first "talkie", The Jazz Singer, received an honorary award for introducing sound to film, and the category for which The Private Life of Helen of Troy was nominated was dropped by the second Academy Awards.^{[citation needed]}

Preservation

Two sections from the beginning and end, running about 27–30 minutes in total, are reportedly all that survive of The Private Life of Helen of Troy; they are preserved by the British Film Institute.^[1]^[3]