Freedom of the Press (film) explained

Freedom of the Press
Producer:	Carl Laemmle
Story:	Peter B. Kyne
Editing:	George McGuire
Cinematography:	Ben F. Reynolds
Studio:	Universal Pictures
Distributor:	Universal Pictures
Runtime:	7 reels
Country:	United States
Language:	Silent (English intertitles)

Freedom of the Press is a 1928 American silent mystery film directed by George Melford and starring Lewis Stone, Marceline Day, and Malcolm McGregor.^{[1] [2]}

Plot

When a newspaper owner is murdered, his son takes over his crusade against a corrupt politician with criminal associations.

Cast

• Lewis Stone as Daniel Steele
• Marceline Day as June Westcott
• Malcolm McGregor as Bill Ballard
• Henry B. Walthall as John Ballard
• Robert Emmett O'Connor as Boss Maloney
• Tom Ricketts as Wicks
• Hayden Stevenson as Callahan
• Robert Ellis as Cyrus Hazlett
• Boris Baronoff as Criminal
• Morgan Thorpe as Organist
• Evelyn Selbie as Italian Mother
• Bernard Siegel as Italian Father
• Wilson Benge as Butler

Production

The plot of the Peter B. Kyne story and the film are based upon the murder of Don Mellett, a newspaper editor who crusaded against corruption in Canton, Ohio.^[3] An early version of the film had a private screening at the Capitol Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, on April 15, 1928, in connection with an Associated Press convention.^[3]

Preservation

A print of Freedom of the Press is listed in the collection of Cineteca Nazionale in Rome.^[4]

Bibliography

• Munden, Kenneth White. The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States, Part 1. University of California Press, 1997.

Notes and References

1. Munden p. 274
2. https://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/F/FreedomOfThePress1928.html Progressive Silent Film List: Freedom of the Press
3. Southern Editors Thrill at Freedom of the Press . Universal Weekly . 27 . 18 . 8–10 . Motion Picture Weekly Publishing Company . New York City . 9 June 1928 . 13 February 2024.
4. https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.925/ Library of Congress / FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Freedom of the Press