Full page view
HISTORY

Metro Pictures Corp.’s purchase of screen rights for the short novel, After His Own Heart by Ben Ames Williams, was announced in the 8 Mar 1919 Moving Picture World. This was to be the first in a series of Metro films based on popular literature. The deal was brokered through Broadway producer R. L. Giffen. According to the 1 Mar 1919 Motion Picture News, Metro general manager Maxwell Karger personally selected the property for actor Hale Hamilton. June Mathis was initially assigned to adapt the story.
       The start of principal photography was reported in the 3 Mar 1919 Wid’s Daily. An item in the 19 Apr 1919 Motion Picture News stated that filming took place at Metro Studios in Hollywood, CA, and mentioned a sequence depicting a high-society ball, which required approximately 300 background actors. The 22 Mar 1919 Moving Picture World credited heavyweight boxer Tom Kennedy with the role of “Goliath,” while other sources attributed the part to Stanley “Tiny” Sanford.
       After His Own Heart was released on 28 Apr 1919, followed by a 28 May 1919 opening at the Hippodrome Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
       Fox remade this story in 1932 under the title Too Busy To Work, directed by J. G. Blystone and starring Will Rogers and Marian Nixon. ...

More Less

Metro Pictures Corp.’s purchase of screen rights for the short novel, After His Own Heart by Ben Ames Williams, was announced in the 8 Mar 1919 Moving Picture World. This was to be the first in a series of Metro films based on popular literature. The deal was brokered through Broadway producer R. L. Giffen. According to the 1 Mar 1919 Motion Picture News, Metro general manager Maxwell Karger personally selected the property for actor Hale Hamilton. June Mathis was initially assigned to adapt the story.
       The start of principal photography was reported in the 3 Mar 1919 Wid’s Daily. An item in the 19 Apr 1919 Motion Picture News stated that filming took place at Metro Studios in Hollywood, CA, and mentioned a sequence depicting a high-society ball, which required approximately 300 background actors. The 22 Mar 1919 Moving Picture World credited heavyweight boxer Tom Kennedy with the role of “Goliath,” while other sources attributed the part to Stanley “Tiny” Sanford.
       After His Own Heart was released on 28 Apr 1919, followed by a 28 May 1919 opening at the Hippodrome Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
       Fox remade this story in 1932 under the title Too Busy To Work, directed by J. G. Blystone and starring Will Rogers and Marian Nixon.

Less

GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS
SOURCE CITATIONS
SOURCE
DATE
PAGE
Camera
25 May 1919
p. 10
Exhibitors Herald and Motography
17 May 1919
p. 44
Exhibitors Trade Review
10 May 1919
p. 1757
Motion Picture News
1 Mar 1919
p. 1326
Motion Picture News
19 Apr 1919
p. 2468
Motion Picture News
26 Apr 1919
p. 2656
Motion Picture News
10 May 1919
p. 3098
Moving Picture World
8 Mar 1919
p. 1372
Moving Picture World
15 Mar 1919
p. 1507
Moving Picture World
22 Mar 1919
p. 1688
Moving Picture World
10 May 1919
p. 940
Variety
2 May 1919
p. 59
Variety
4 Jan 1919
p. 93
Wid's Daily
3 Mar 1919
---
Wid's Daily
31 Mar 1919
---
CAST
PRODUCTION CREDITS
NAME
PARENT COMPANY
PRODUCTION COMPANY
DISTRIBUTION COMPANY
NAME
CREDITED AS
CREDIT
DIRECTOR
PRODUCER
WRITER
PHOTOGRAPHY
SOURCES
LITERARY
Based on the short novel, After His Own Heart by Ben Ames Williams, originally published in All-Story Weekly (4 Jan-25 Jan 1919).
LITERARY SOURCE AUTHOR
DETAILS
Release Date:
28 April 1919
Premiere Information:
Los Angeles opening: 28 May 1919
Production Date:
began late Feb 1919
Copyright Info
Claimant
Date
Copyright Number
Metro Pictures Corp.
2 May 1919
LP13665
Physical Properties:
Silent
Black and White
Length(in reels):
5
Country:
United States
Language:
English
SYNOPSIS

Socialite Thomas Wentworth Duncan reunites with his former lover, Sally Reeves, after a trustee absconds with his fortune. Realizing he cannot afford to support Sally in the manner to which she is accustomed, Duncan impulsively accepts an offer of $250,000, then discovers that he has sold his heart to Dr. Spleen, a surgeon who plans to exchange the organ with that of Sally's uncle, Judah P. Corpus, believing it will restore the old man’s youth. Duncan learns that the surgery has only been attempted twice before with a pair of dogs, neither of which survived. He tries to renege on the deal, but a huge attendant prevents him from leaving the doctor’s island sanitarium. Spleen dies from excitement before he can begin the operation, leaving Duncan unscathed with his newfound wealth. Duncan and Sally marry, while Uncle Judah believes the operation to have been a ...

More Less

Socialite Thomas Wentworth Duncan reunites with his former lover, Sally Reeves, after a trustee absconds with his fortune. Realizing he cannot afford to support Sally in the manner to which she is accustomed, Duncan impulsively accepts an offer of $250,000, then discovers that he has sold his heart to Dr. Spleen, a surgeon who plans to exchange the organ with that of Sally's uncle, Judah P. Corpus, believing it will restore the old man’s youth. Duncan learns that the surgery has only been attempted twice before with a pair of dogs, neither of which survived. He tries to renege on the deal, but a huge attendant prevents him from leaving the doctor’s island sanitarium. Spleen dies from excitement before he can begin the operation, leaving Duncan unscathed with his newfound wealth. Duncan and Sally marry, while Uncle Judah believes the operation to have been a success.

Less

Legend
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement Award

TOP SEARCHES

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

According to HR news items, "The Gentleman from Montana" (an unpublished story by Lewis R. Foster, alternately called "The Gentleman from Wyoming" by both contemporary and modern ... >>

It's a Wonderful Life

Philip Van Doren Stern's story, which, according to many contemporary and modern sources, was originally written in Nov 1939, was enclosed by him in his 1943 Christmas cards. Although ... >>

The Grapes of Wrath

According to materials contained in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department at the UCLA Theater Arts Library, Fox paid John Steinbeck $70,000 for the rights to his ... >>

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.