New Brooms

1925 film

New Brooms

Advertisement for the film

Directed by| William C. deMille
Written by| Clara Beranger (scenario)
Based on| New Brooms: a Comedy in Three Acts (play)
by Frank Craven[1][2]
Produced by| Adolph Zukor
Jesse Lasky
Starring| Bessie Love
Neil Hamilton
Phyllis Haver
Cinematography| L. Guy Wilky

Production
company

Famous Players–Lasky

Distributed by| Paramount Pictures

Release date

* October 12, 1925 (1925-10-12) (U.S.)

Running time

| 6 reels; 5,443 feet[3]
Country| United States
Language| Silent (English intertitles)

New Brooms is a 1925 American silent romantic comedy[3] film, directed by William C. deMille, and starring Bessie Love, Neil Hamilton, and Phyllis Haver. It was produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on Frank Craven's 1924 Broadway play of the same name.[4][5][6]

## Plot

[edit]

The wealthy Bates family owns a profitable broom factory, but father Thomas Sr. (McWade) is criticized by son Thomas Jr. (Hamilton) for his outdated methods of running the family business. Thomas Sr. agrees to let his son run the business for a year.

The family also takes in Geraldine Marsh (Love), the daughter of a family friend, who has fallen on hard times. Thomas Jr. falls for Geraldine, and breaks off his engagement to Florence Levering (Haver), but then suspects that his father is also in love with Geraldine, and sends his father and Geraldine away.

After his year of managing the company has ended, he has been proven to be an unsuccessful businessman. His father and Geraldine are allowed to return, and when he sees that they were never in love, he marries Geraldine, and returns control of the factory to his father.[1][3]

## Cast

[edit]

* Bessie Love as Geraldine Marsh
* Neil Hamilton as Thomas Bates, Jr.
* Phyllis Haver as Florence Levering
* Robert McWade as Thomas Bates, Sr.
* Fred Walton as Williams
* Josephine Crowell as Margaret
* Larry Steers as George Morrow
* James Neill as Kneeland

## Release and reception

[edit]

Because of the name of the film, theaters reported having some difficulty getting audiences into theaters without incorporating broom-themed displays.[7] Such displays did seem to prove successful.[8][9][10]

The film did, however, receive positive reviews.[7]

## Preservation

[edit]

With no prints of New Brooms located in any film archives, it is considered a lost film.[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Munden, Kenneth W., ed. (1971). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1921–1930. New York: R.R. Bowker Company. p. 540. OCLC 664500075.
2. ^ Craven, Frank (1925). New Brooms: a Comedy in Three Acts. New York, NY: Samuel French, Inc. OCLC 3209381.
3. ^ a b c "Pre-Release Reviews of Features". Motion Picture News. October 24, 1925. p. 1946.
4. ^ Bennett, Carl (June 20, 2011). "Progressive Silent Film List: New Brooms". Silent Era.
5. ^ "New Brooms as produced on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre, November 17, 1924, 88 performances". IBDb.com.
6. ^ "Paramount Pictures 1925–29". Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files. Archived from the original on June 11, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2012.
7. ^ a b Van Buren Powell, A., ed. (December 5, 1925). "Straight from the Shoulder Reports". Moving Picture World. p. 446.
8. ^ "Newest Brooms". Moving Picture World. November 21, 1925. p. 256.
9. ^ "Rodney Bush Used Compo Bord for His New Brooms". Moving Picture World. December 19, 1925. p. 666.
10. ^ "Making a Clean Sweep with New Brooms for New Brooms". Moving Picture World. December 26, 1925. p. 803.
11. ^ "American Silent Feature Film Database: New Brooms". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to New Brooms.

* New Brooms at IMDb
* New Brooms at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
* New Brooms at the TCM Movie Database
* Poster

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by William C. deMille

* The Only Son (1914)
* The Ragamuffin (1916)
* The Blacklist (1916)
* The Sowers (1916)
* The Clown (1916)
* Common Ground (1916)
* Anton the Terrible (1916)
* The Heir to the Hoorah (1916)
* Hashimura Togo (1917)
* The Ghost House (1917)
* The Secret Game (1917)
* The Widow's Might (1918)
* One More American (1918)
* The Honor of His House (1918)
* Mirandy Smiles (1918)
* The Mystery Girl (1918)
* Peg o' My Heart (1919)(*never released)
* The Tree of Knowledge (1920)
* Jack Straw (1920)
* The Prince Chap (1920)
* Conrad in Quest of His Youth (1920)
* Midsummer Madness (1921)
* What Every Woman Knows (1921)
* The Lost Romance (1921)
* After the Show (1921)
* Miss Lulu Bett (1921)
* Bought and Paid For (1922)
* Nice People (1922)
* Clarence (1922)
* The World's Applause (1923)
* Grumpy (1923)
* Only 38 (1923)
* The Marriage Maker (1923)
* Don't Call It Love (1923)
* Icebound (1924)
* The Bedroom Window (1924)
* The Fast Set (1924)
* Locked Doors (1925)
* Men and Women (1925)
* Lost: A Wife (1925)
* New Brooms (1925)
* The Splendid Crime (1926)
* The Runaway (1926)
* For Alimony Only (1926)
* The Little Adventuress (1927)
* Craig's Wife (1928)
* Tenth Avenue (1928)
* The Doctor's Secret (1929)
* Midnight Life (1929)
* The Idle Rich (1929)
* This Mad World (1930)
* Passion Flower (1930)
* Two Kinds of Women (1932)
* His Double Life (1933)

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

|

* v
* t
* e

This article about a 1920s romantic comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

|

* v
* t
* e

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template