Lost, but Not Forgotten: A Doll's House (1922)
Direction: Charles Bryant; assisted by Albert Kelley
Scenario: Peter M. Winters (pen name of Nazimova)
Original Play: Henrik Ibsen
Camera: Charles Van Enger & Neal Jack (2nd camera); assisted by Paul Ivano & Lewis Wilson
Cutting: Lou Ostrow; assisted by Samuel Zimbalist
Studio: Nazimova Productions (production) & United Artists (distribution)
Performers: Nazimova, Alan Hale, Wedgewood Nowell, Nigel De Brulier, Florence Fisher, Clara Lee, Philippe de Lacy, Barbara Maier, Elinor Oliver
Premiere: Opening week: February 11-18, Strand Theatre, 1579 Broadway, Manhattan, NY and the Strand Brooklyn Theatre, 647 Brooklyn, NY.
Status: presumed entirely lost
Length: 7 reels or roughly 77 minutes
Synopsis (synthesized from magazine summaries of the plot)
In a comfortable flat, Nora Helmer (Nazimova) keeps house for her husband, Torvald (Hale), and their three children. Nora works hard to keep Torvald happy by playing the role of his “little squirrel.”
from Moving Picture World, 18 February 1922
Things were not always so comfortable for the Helmers, however. Three years prior, Torvald was gravely ill and the doctor ordered special treatment and a trip south to save his life. Nora secretly approached a money-lender, Krogstad (Nowell), to pay for Torvald’s treatment and forged her now-deceased father’s signature on a bond. In the intervening years, Nora has scrimped, saved, and taken in extra work to pay off the loan—still keeping the secret from her “principled” husband, who doesn’t approve of money-lenders.
Now, Torvald has fully recovered his health and Nora is one payment away from paying the loan in full. Torvald gets promoted to an official position at the bank and Krogstad now works under him. Upon learning that Krogstad has an unsavory past, Torvald decides to fire him—planning on offering his position to Nora’s childhood friend, Mrs. Linden (Fisher), who is now a single mother in need.
from Exhibitors Herald, 28 January 1922
Krogstad reveals to Nora that he knows she forged her father’s signature and that he will expose her to her husband if she doesn’t get Torvald to reinstate him at the bank.
Nora desperately tries to keep a cheerful, playful demeanor with Torvald. When Torvald sermonizes to her about moral turpitude due to bad mothers, she panics and feels her downfall is imminent.
Nora determines that she may be able to pay Krogstad off, and asks a family friend, Dr. Rank (De Brulier), for a loan. Unexpectedly, Rank takes this moment to confess his feelings for Nora. Nora rebuffs him, but now feels as though she has nowhere to turn.
from Motion Picture Magazine, May 1922
On Christmas Eve, Nora knows that there is a letter from Krogstad in their post box, but only Torvald has a key. Nora frantically distracts him from opening the box before they leave for a holiday masquerade party. Torvald notices Nora’s frenetic energy in how she dances at the party, but doesn’t know the cause.
When they return home, Torvald retrieves the mail. Before he can open the letter from Krogstad, Nora confesses that she deceived him to save his life. Torvald is furious that Nora has endangered his reputation and questions if she is fit to be a mother while in the same breath stating that he will pay Krogstad off.
However, when Torvald opens the letter, his mood turns on a dime. Krogstad has had a change of heart due to the influence of Mrs. Linden, who also happens to be an old sweetheart of Krogstad’s. The letter contains the cancelled note. Torvald grabs Nora and dances her around the room, overjoyed that his reputation is no longer in danger.
Nora realizes all of her acrobatics (literal and metaphorical) to keep Torvald happy have been pointless. She has sacrificed so much of her energy and independence to merely become “a toy of a selfish man.” The mask has fallen. While Torvald is ready to pretend that nothing has changed, Nora knows that she cannot go back to being his doll. Nora packs up her belongings and leaves the flat—intent on becoming her own person.
Final title card: “The End, or, Rather the Beginning.”
A Doll’s House (1922) was Nazimova’s first independently produced film after her contract with Metro ended.
Some of Nazimova’s first roles on the American stage were Ibsen plays (“Hedda Gabler,” “A Doll’s House,” & “The Master Builder,” to be specific), so this film was an attempt to capture some of that work on film.
Only 8 out of Nazimova’s 18 silent films survive today and only 3 have been made available on home video or streaming. [I recently re-watched Salome (1922) on the Pioneers: First Women Filmmakers set and I can’t recommend picking up this set enough!]
“War Brides” (1916, presumed lost)
“Revelation” (1918, extant at MGM)
“Toys of Fate” (1918, extant at Národní filmový archiv)
“A Woman of France” (1918, short, presumed lost)
“Eye for Eye” (1918, extant at Gosfilmofond)
“Out of the Fog” (1919, presumed lost)
“The Red Lantern” (1919, extant at Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, Gosfilmofond)
“The Brat” (1919, presumed lost)
“Stronger than Death” (1920, extant at MGM & Eastman House)
“Heart of a Child” (1920, presumed lost*)
“Madame Peacock” (1920, extant at Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique)
“Billions” (1920, presumed lost)
“A Doll’s House” (1922, presumed lost)
“Madonna of the Streets” (1924, presumed lost)
“The Redeeming Sin” (1925, presumed lost)
“My Son” (1925, presumed lost)
*The Women Film Pioneers Project website has this film listed as extant at Cinémathèque Royale de Belgique, but LOC lists it having no known archival holdings.
[Survival status checked via LOC’s Silent Feature Film Database, and re-checked at relevant archives when available]
Transcribed Sources & Annotation over on the WMM Blog!
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