Kindred Of The Dust
T. it.: Come polvere. Sog.: dal romanzo di Peter B. Kyne. Scen.: James T. O’Donohoe. F.: H. Lyman Broening, Charles Van Enger. Scgf.: William Cameron Menzies. Int.: Miriam Cooper (Nan of the Sawdust Pile), Ralph Graves (Donald McKaye), Lionel Belmore (Il proprietario di Tyee), Eugenie Besserer (Mrs McKaye), Maryland Morne (Jane McKaye), Elizabeth Waters (Elizabeth McKaye), William J. Ferguson (Mr Daney), Caroline Rankin (Mrs Daney), Patrick Rooney (‘Dirty’ Dann O’Leary), John Herdman (Caleb Brent), Bruce Guerin (Little Donald). Prod.: R.A. Walsh Company. Pri. pro.: 27 febbraio 1922 35mm. L.: 2294 m. D.: 84’ a 24 f/s. Bn.
Film Notes
Based on a novel by the prolific and popular Peter B. Kyne (Three Godfathers), Kindred of the Dust was Walsh’s last film as an independent producer and his last with his first wife, Miriam Cooper, whom he had met and married when both were under contract to D.W. Griffith. The film retains a distinct, Griffith-like flavor, with Cooper (the fallen ‘Friendless One’ in Intolerance) cast as Nan of the Sawdust Pile, a waif who returns to her home in a Pacific Northwest logging town after a failed marriage, an infant son in tow. Luckily, her wealthy childhood sweetheart (Ralph Graves) is still in love with her; unluckily, his family will hear nothing of a union with such a woman. The art direction is the work of a young William Cameron Menzies, in his third assignment for Walsh before his professional breakthrough with The Thief of Bagdad in 1924.
(Dave Kehr)