Directed by:
Henry KingScreenplay:
Frances MarionCinematography:
Arthur EdesonCast:
Ronald Colman, Belle Bennett, Alice Joyce, Jean Hersholt, Lois Moran, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Vera Lewis, Charles Lane, Ellinor Vanderveer, Winston Miller (more)Plots(1)
Stella Dallas, the working-class mother who makes the ultimate sacrifice for her socially ambitious daughter, became one of the most resonant figures in American culture from the moment Olive Higgins Prouty’s novel appeared in 1923. A stage adaptation soon followed, as did this film version in 1925 (the first of three). Produced by Samuel Goldwyn and directed by Henry King, the film is a powerful indictment of the rigid class barriers then emerging in the prosperous, postwar America of the 1920s, but the emotional center of the film is Stella (a brilliant portrayal by Belle Bennett, one of 73 actresses tested for the role), who marries ‘above her station’ (to a temporarily embarrassed banker’s son), but is unable to adapt her dress and behavior to bourgeois standards of her new husband. When her daughter becomes engaged to a fashionable country-clubber, Stella’s dilemma becomes painfully clear: Only by leaving her life can she ensure her daughter’s happiness. (Venice International Film Festival)
(more)Cast
Ronald Colman
UK
Best movies:
The Talk of the Town (1942)
If I Were King (1938)
Random Harvest (1942)
Belle Bennett
USA
Best movies:
The Iron Mask (1929)
The Way of All Flesh (1927)
Alice Joyce
USA
Jean Hersholt
Denmark
Best movies:
Greed (1924)
Alexander's Ragtime Band (1938)
The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)
Lois Moran
USA
Best movies:
Alice in the Cities (1974)
The Road to Mandalay (1926)
Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
USA
Best movies:
The Great Manhunt (1950)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1937)
The Three Musketeers (1921)
Vera Lewis
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
King Kong (1933)
Charles Lane
USA
Best movies:
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920)
Sadie Thompson (1928)
The Canary Murder Case (1929)
Ellinor Vanderveer
USA
Best movies:
Casablanca (1942)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Winston Miller
USA
Best movies:
The Iron Horse (1924)
Maurice Murphy
USA
Best movies:
All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)