QUINCY ADAMS SAWYER (1922) Lon Chaney as a Crooked Lawyer LOST SILENT FILM

Description

Vintage original 11 x 14 in. (28 x 35 cm.) US lobby card
from the lost rural-themed silent film comedy/drama,
QUINCY ADAMS SAWYER
, released in 1922 by First National and
directed by Clarence Badger
. Based upon the novel, "Quincy Adams Sawyer and Mason's Corner Folks" by Bernard McConville and Charles Felton Pidgin, Quincy Adams Sawyer (John Bowers) is a young attorney who one day meets a girl in the park and is immediately smitten with her. The cast includes Blanche Sweet, Lon Chaney, Barbara La Marr, Elmo Lincoln, Louise Fazenda, Joseph J. Dowling, Claire McDowell, Edward Connelly, June Elvidge, Victor Potel, Gale Henry, Hank Mann, and Kate Lester.
The image depicts an exterior scene of the film's villain,
crooked lawyer Obadiah Strout (
Lon Chaney
), as he looks around him before
putting
grease from the can he is holding onto the foot-bridge to thwart his romantic rivals.
The lobby cards from this film depict various characters for the border art
and this one features two images of John Bowers as Quincy Sawyer Adams. It is unrestored in fine+ condition with one pinhole in or near three of the corners; a crease of varying sizes on each corner; and light signs of wear along portions of the top edge. There are no tears, stains, writing, or other flaws.
Quincy Adams Sawyer
was re-released in 1927, after LaMarr's death, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and is
now considered a lost film
. Film magazine
Moving Picture World
was uninspired by the film's story, but called it an entertaining film.
The New York Times
thought the film was 'superficial' and stated that not even Lon Chaney's acting could save it, while
Variety
praised 'the fearful hokum purveyed in the story' and was especially positive about Chaney and Elmo Lincoln. Barbara La Marr received favorable reviews from the critics as well, and the film was a success at the box office.
A wonderful cast of silent film greats joined Chaney for this comedy/drama based on a popular novel of the time. Chaney plays crooked lawyer Obadiah Strout, who has stolen bearer bonds. He puts all kinds of obstacles and crazy characters in the way of Quincy Adams Sawyer (John Bowers), who is attempting to solve the disappearance. Chaney proved himself greatly adept at playing both the menacing evil character and the comedy of the story.
Today, the film is not well remembered, but the participants are: Bowers would come to be remembered for his drowning suicide, which became part of the script for
A Star is Born
; Elmo Lincoln was film’s first "Tarzan"; and La Marr, sadly, for her young death a few years later, and of course Chaney for his great body of work.