A Little Brother of the Rich (1919)
Drama | 11 August 1919
The scenario was based on the 1908 novel, A Little Brother of the Rich by Joseph Medill Patterson, owner and editor of the Chicago Tribune. A 1909 play of the same name was written by Patterson with Harriet Ford. A second screen version, to be filmed at Universal Studios in Universal City, CA, was announced in the 9 Nov 1918 Motion Picture News. Principal photography was well underway by 27 April 1919, according to that day’s issue of Camera. News items in the 4 May 1919, 11 May 1919, and 18 May 1919 issues of Camera identified the Midwick Country Club in Alhambra, CA, as a primary location, and included L. C. Shumway and Herbert Prior among the cast. A photograph caption in the 22 August 1919 Los Angeles Times mentioned Balboa Bay in Newport Beach, CA, as an additional location. The 24 May 1919 Moving Picture World noted the casting of Jack Gilbert, later known as John Gilbert, who recently joined Universal following his tenure as a leading man with Thomas H. Ince Productions. The 25 May 1919 edition of Camera reported that filming was nearing completion. According to the 14 June 1919 Motion Picture News, Universal spent several months preparing the feature, including one month for casting. Joseph Medill Patterson was credited with the scenario. An item in the 27 September 1919 Camera suggested that Val Paul may have acted as assistant to director Lynn Reynolds.
A Little Brother of the Rich was ...
The scenario was based on the 1908 novel, A Little Brother of the Rich by Joseph Medill Patterson, owner and editor of the Chicago Tribune. A 1909 play of the same name was written by Patterson with Harriet Ford. A second screen version, to be filmed at Universal Studios in Universal City, CA, was announced in the 9 Nov 1918 Motion Picture News. Principal photography was well underway by 27 April 1919, according to that day’s issue of Camera. News items in the 4 May 1919, 11 May 1919, and 18 May 1919 issues of Camera identified the Midwick Country Club in Alhambra, CA, as a primary location, and included L. C. Shumway and Herbert Prior among the cast. A photograph caption in the 22 August 1919 Los Angeles Times mentioned Balboa Bay in Newport Beach, CA, as an additional location. The 24 May 1919 Moving Picture World noted the casting of Jack Gilbert, later known as John Gilbert, who recently joined Universal following his tenure as a leading man with Thomas H. Ince Productions. The 25 May 1919 edition of Camera reported that filming was nearing completion. According to the 14 June 1919 Motion Picture News, Universal spent several months preparing the feature, including one month for casting. Joseph Medill Patterson was credited with the scenario. An item in the 27 September 1919 Camera suggested that Val Paul may have acted as assistant to director Lynn Reynolds.
A Little Brother of the Rich was scheduled for release on 11 August 1919, preceded by a 7 August 1919 opening at Loew’s New York Theatre in New York City, and followed by a 24 August 1919 opening at the Superba Theatre in Los Angeles, CA.
Earlier that summer, the 2 July 1919 [Joplin, MO] Globe reported that Patterson was involved in a lawsuit against automobile magnate Henry Ford, who accused the Chicago Tribune of being “pro-German” prior to the U.S. entry into World War I. Patterson’s novel was used against him by Ford’s attorneys, who claimed that he was a member of the Socialist Party at the time it was written.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of October 2019.
Paul Potter, captain of the Yale University football team, becomes engaged to Sylvia Castle after promising her father that they will live in their Indiana hometown. Sylvia visits Yale for the senior prom and sees that Paul is embarrassed by her small-town manner and dress. His obvious attraction to married society woman Muriel Evers compels Sylvia to release Paul from his promise. She then returns to Indiana while Paul advances to Wall Street. After Sylvia's father dies, she moves to New York City and meets alcoholic actor Henry Leamington, who encourages her to join the theater while she helps him conquer his affliction. Sylvia becomes a successful actress and reunites with Paul, who is unhappily married to Muriel. They still love each other, but after Muriel dies in an automobile accident, Paul realizes that an actress wife would harm his business reputation and suggests that Sylvia become his mistress instead. Now convinced of Paul's true character, Sylvia marries Henry. ...
Paul Potter, captain of the Yale University football team, becomes engaged to Sylvia Castle after promising her father that they will live in their Indiana hometown. Sylvia visits Yale for the senior prom and sees that Paul is embarrassed by her small-town manner and dress. His obvious attraction to married society woman Muriel Evers compels Sylvia to release Paul from his promise. She then returns to Indiana while Paul advances to Wall Street. After Sylvia's father dies, she moves to New York City and meets alcoholic actor Henry Leamington, who encourages her to join the theater while she helps him conquer his affliction. Sylvia becomes a successful actress and reunites with Paul, who is unhappily married to Muriel. They still love each other, but after Muriel dies in an automobile accident, Paul realizes that an actress wife would harm his business reputation and suggests that Sylvia become his mistress instead. Now convinced of Paul's true character, Sylvia marries Henry.
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