The Luck of Geraldine Laird (1920)
Drama | 1 February 1920
Director:
Edward SlomanWriter:
Harvey GatesProducer:
Bessie BarriscaleProduction Company:
B. B. FeaturesThe working title for this film was Woman and Wife. A title change to The Luck of Geraldine Laird, after the Kathleen Norris novel upon which it was based, was announced in the 23 January 1920 Wid’s Daily. This marked the third Kathleen Norris story in which Bessie Barriscale starred. An item in the 30 May 1919 Variety reported that screen rights to The Luck of Geraldine Laird, which first ran in serialized form in Pictorial Review between October 1918 and January 1919 and was later published in novel form, had been purchased for Barriscale.
On 13 December 1919, Motion Picture News stated that filming was set to begin after Barriscale finished work on Beckoning Roads (1919, see entry). The following month, a 3 January 1920 Camera item announced that production on The Luck of Geraldine Laird had been completed. Soon after, Barriscale hosted a preview screening for Kathleen Norris, as reported in the 17 January 1920 Camera. The 7 February 1920 Motion Picture News quoted Norris as saying: “Of all my stories which have been put on the screen, this is the best.” Around the time of the film’s theatrical release on 1 February 1920, Norris’s serialized novel was published in newspapers as a tie-in with the film’s opening, according to a 14 February 1920 Moving Picture World item.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of February 2021. ...
The working title for this film was Woman and Wife. A title change to The Luck of Geraldine Laird, after the Kathleen Norris novel upon which it was based, was announced in the 23 January 1920 Wid’s Daily. This marked the third Kathleen Norris story in which Bessie Barriscale starred. An item in the 30 May 1919 Variety reported that screen rights to The Luck of Geraldine Laird, which first ran in serialized form in Pictorial Review between October 1918 and January 1919 and was later published in novel form, had been purchased for Barriscale.
On 13 December 1919, Motion Picture News stated that filming was set to begin after Barriscale finished work on Beckoning Roads (1919, see entry). The following month, a 3 January 1920 Camera item announced that production on The Luck of Geraldine Laird had been completed. Soon after, Barriscale hosted a preview screening for Kathleen Norris, as reported in the 17 January 1920 Camera. The 7 February 1920 Motion Picture News quoted Norris as saying: “Of all my stories which have been put on the screen, this is the best.” Around the time of the film’s theatrical release on 1 February 1920, Norris’s serialized novel was published in newspapers as a tie-in with the film’s opening, according to a 14 February 1920 Moving Picture World item.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of February 2021.
Although she is married, Geraldine Laird insists upon living with her mother, much to the disgust of her husband Dean, who would prefer a smaller house where he would see more of his family and less of his in-laws and uninvited guests. Laird has an ambition to write plays, so when Kennedy Bond, a literary agent, visits the village and tells him he has talent, Laird accompanies her back to New York. Geraldine, determined to save her husband, follows him to the city. There she accepts a job as a saleswoman and is discovered by a theatrical manager who sees her impersonations of actress Sarah Bernhardt and offers her a job. Becoming a theatrical star, Geraldine encounters her husband, the failed playwright, at a banquet given in her honor. After denouncing him in front of the guests, Geraldine later forgets her anger and they are ...
Although she is married, Geraldine Laird insists upon living with her mother, much to the disgust of her husband Dean, who would prefer a smaller house where he would see more of his family and less of his in-laws and uninvited guests. Laird has an ambition to write plays, so when Kennedy Bond, a literary agent, visits the village and tells him he has talent, Laird accompanies her back to New York. Geraldine, determined to save her husband, follows him to the city. There she accepts a job as a saleswoman and is discovered by a theatrical manager who sees her impersonations of actress Sarah Bernhardt and offers her a job. Becoming a theatrical star, Geraldine encounters her husband, the failed playwright, at a banquet given in her honor. After denouncing him in front of the guests, Geraldine later forgets her anger and they are reconciled.
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