The Awakening (1928 film)

1928 film

The Awakening

Film poster

Directed by| Victor Fleming
Written by| Carey Wilson (screenplay)
Frances Marion (story)
Produced by| Samuel Goldwyn
Starring| Vilma Bánky
Walter Byron
Cinematography| George Barnes
Edited by| Viola Lawrence
Katherine Hilliker
H. H. Caldwell
Music by| Hugo Riesenfeld
Irving Berlin (song "Marie")

Production
company

Samuel Goldwyn Productions

Distributed by| United Artists

Release date

* November 17, 1928 (1928-11-17)

Running time

| 90 minutes
Country| United States
Languages| Sound (Synchronized)
English Intertitles

The Awakening is a 1928 American synchronized sound feature film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Vilma Bánky. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film was based on a story by Frances Marion.[1][2]

## Plot

[edit]

In Alsace, under German occupation shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Marie Ducrot is a pretty young peasant woman who falls in love with Count Karl von Hagen, a German army officer. Marie is seen when she visits von Hagen in his quarters. The people suffering under the occupation see Marie as a traitor and assault her physically. Marie disappears and is believed dead. However, she has fled to a monastery where she is accepted as a novice.

The war breaks out and Von Hagen is wounded in fighting near the monastery. Marie nurses him back to health. Von Hagen wants her to go to Germany with him. The French lieutenant Le Bête helps the two to reach the German lines. The couple get to safety, but Le Bête is killed by a sniper's bullet.

## Cast

[edit]

* Vilma Bánky as Marie Ducrot
* Walter Byron as Count Karl von Hagen
* Louis Wolheim as Le Bete
* George Davis as The Orderly
* William Orlamond as Grandfather Ducrot
* Carl von Haartman as Lieutenant Franz Geyer

## Reception

[edit]

The film featured a theme song entitled "Marie" with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.

## Reception

[edit]

The Awakening poster, 1928

The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design at the 2nd Academy Awards. The Nominee, William Cameron Menzies was also nominated the same year for the film Alibi.

### Critical reception

[edit]

A review in the trade publication Harrison's Reports summarized the film as "'spotty;' that is, it is good, in fact very good, in spots; on the other hand, in spots it is slow, and even poor."[1] It also commended Banky and Byron for "good work" in their roles and Fleming for his direction.[1]

## Preservation

[edit]

One reel of the film (approximately 1000 feet of 35mm nitrate film) survives at the BFI.[3]

## See also

[edit]

* List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "'The Awakening' (S) -- with Vilma Banky and Walter Bryon". Harrison's Reports. January 5, 1929. p. 3. Retrieved May 3, 2022.
2. ^ Progressive Silent Film List: The Awakening at silentera.com
3. ^ "Choice Film Items". collections-search.bfi.org.uk. Retrieved November 4, 2024.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Awakening (1928 film).

* The Awakening at IMDb
* The Awakening at the TCM Movie Database
* The Awakening at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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Films directed by Victor Fleming

* When the Clouds Roll By (1919)
* The Mollycoddle (1920)
* Mama's Affair (1921)
* Woman's Place (1921)
* The Lane That Had No Turning (1922)
* Red Hot Romance (1922)
* Anna Ascends (1922)
* Dark Secrets (1923)
* Law of the Lawless (1923)
* To the Last Man (1923)
* The Call of the Canyon (1923)
* Code of the Sea (1924)
* Empty Hands (1924)
* The Devil's Cargo (1925)
* Adventure (1925)
* A Son of His Father (1925)
* Lord Jim (1925)
* The Blind Goddess (1926)
* Mantrap (1926)
* The Way of All Flesh (1927)
* Hula (1927)
* The Rough Riders (1927)
* Abie's Irish Rose (1928)
* The Awakening (1928)
* Wolf Song (1929)
* The Virginian (1929)
* Common Clay (1930)
* Renegades (1930)
* Around the World in 80 Minutes with Douglas Fairbanks (1931)
* The Wet Parade (1932)
* Red Dust (1932)
* The White Sister (1933)
* Bombshell (1933)
* Treasure Island (1934)
* Reckless (1935)
* The Farmer Takes a Wife (1935)
* Captains Courageous (1937)
* Test Pilot (1938)
* The Wizard of Oz (1939)
* Gone with the Wind (1939)
* Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941)
* Tortilla Flat (1942)
* A Guy Named Joe (1943)
* Adventure (1946)
* Joan of Arc (1948)

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* e

Films produced by Samuel Goldwyn

* The Pest (1919)
* Slave of Desire (1923)
* Potash and Perlmutter (1923)
* The Eternal City (1923)
* Cytherea (1924)
* In Hollywood with Potash and Perlmutter (1924)
* A Thief in Paradise (1925)
* His Supreme Moment (1925)
* The Dark Angel (1925)
* Stella Dallas (1925)
* The Winning of Barbara Worth (1926)
* Partners Again (1926)
* The Night of Love (1927)
* The Magic Flame (1927)
* The Devil Dancer (1927)
* Two Lovers (1928)
* The Awakening (1928)
* Condemned (1929)
* The Rescue (1929)
* This Is Heaven (1929)
* Bulldog Drummond (1929)
* Raffles (1930)
* Whoopee! (1930)
* The Devil to Pay! (1930)
* One Heavenly Night (1931)
* Street Scene (1931)
* Palmy Days (1931)
* The Unholy Garden (1931)
* Arrowsmith (1931)
* Tonight or Never (1931)
* The Greeks Had a Word for Them (1932)
* The Kid from Spain (1932)
* Cynara (1932)
* The Masquerader (1933)
* Roman Scandals (1933)
* We Live Again (1934)
* Nana (1934)
* Kid Millions (1934)
* The Dark Angel (1935)
* The Wedding Night (1935)
* Barbary Coast (1935)
* Splendor (1935)
* These Three (1936)
* Dodsworth (1936)
* Come and Get It (1936)
* Strike Me Pink (1936)
* Beloved Enemy (1936)
* Woman Chases Man (1937)
* Stella Dallas (1937)
* Dead End (1937)
* The Hurricane (1937)
* The Adventures of Marco Polo (1938)
* The Cowboy and the Lady (1938)
* The Goldwyn Follies (1938)
* They Shall Have Music (1939)
* Wuthering Heights (1939)
* The Real Glory (1939)
* The Westerner (1940)
* The Little Foxes (1941)
* Ball of Fire (1941)
* The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
* They Got Me Covered (1943)
* The North Star (1943)
* Up in Arms (1944)
* The Princess and the Pirate (1944)
* Wonder Man (1945)
* The Kid From Brooklyn (1946)
* The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
* The Bishop's Wife (1947)
* The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
* A Song Is Born (1948)
* Enchantment (1948)
* Roseanna McCoy (1949)
* My Foolish Heart (1949)
* Our Very Own (1950)
* Edge of Doom (1950)
* I Want You (1951)
* Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
* Guys and Dolls (1955)
* Porgy and Bess (1959)

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