The White Sin Explained

The White Sin
Director:William A. Seiter
Producer:Palmer Photoplay Company
Story:Harold Shumate
Starring:Madge Bellamy
John Bowers
Cinematography:Max DuPont
Distributor:Film Booking Offices of America
Runtime:6 reels
Country:United States
Language:Silent (English intertitles)

The White Sin is a 1924 silent romantic drama film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Madge Bellamy and John Bowers. It was distributed by Film Booking Offices of America (FBO).[1] [2] [3]

Plot

As described in a review of the film in a film magazine,[4] Hattie Lou Harkness’ (Bellamy) life with her aunt becomes unbearable and she runs away from the country home, finding employment as a maid with the wealthy Van Gores. Spencer Van Gore (Cooley) stages a mock wedding on board his yacht with the ship’s captain officiating. Learning of the trick, Hattie Lou leaves. Two years later she is out of work. Reading that the yacht has been wrecked and the party of Van Gores lost, she goes with her baby to the elder Van Gore’s home and poses as Spencer’s wife. Grant Van Gore (Bowers), a war invalid there, falls in love with her. Spencer turns up and Hattie Lou learns that the marriage was legal and binding, as the captain deliberately performed it outside the three-mile limit. Spencer dies when the Van Gore home burns, and Grant and Hattie Lou marry.

Preservation

A print is preserved in the Library of Congress.[5] [6]

Notes and References

  1. https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/13280?sid=0d0ca058-4e9d-4df8-bca9-d77ad1dc7e0f&sr=2.991088&cp=1&pos=1 The AFI Catalog of Feature Films 1893-1993:The White Sin
  2. http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/W/WhiteSin1924.html Progressive Silent Film List: The White Sin
  3. Pictorial History of the Silent Screen, p. 261, c.193 by Daniel Blum
  4. Smith . Sumner . The White Sin: Palmer Corporation Scores Again in Second F. B. O. Release . . 66 . 8 . 670 . Chalmers Publishing Co. . New York City . 1924-02-23 . 20 March 2021.
  5. http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.2347/default.html The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: The White Sin
  6. Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress, p. 208, c.1978 by The American Film Institute