|
The
Great Deception
|
| "The Great Deception" was a silent melodrama
featuring Basil Rathbone as a WWI German agent. I have not seen
the film, so I cannot
offer my own review of it. What follows is from Michael Druxman's book Basil
Rathbone: His
Life and Films,* pages 115-116.
"The Great Deception" was an exciting, but somewhat implausible, tale of espionage during World War I. Cyril Mansfield (Ben Lyon) works in England for the German Secret Service, yet is, in fact, loyal to British Intelligence. A German agent, Rizzio (Rathbone), suspects Cyril's disloyalty to the Fatherland and abducts his girl friend, Lois (Aileen Pringle). She innocently betrays her lover and the pair are condemned to death. Luckily, they are able to escape before the sentence is carried out. |
|
* Basil Rathbone: His Life and His Films, by Michael B. Druxman (South Brunswick and New York: A.S. Barnes), 1975. (Out of print, but available from the author. If interested click here.)
According to the New York Times, Rathbone played the role of the German agent in a convincing fashion.
"The Great Deception" was based on the 1915 novel The Yellow Dove by George Gibbs. Another film, "Shadows of Suspicion," made in 1919, was also based on The Yellow Dove. The characters' names are different, so apparently "The Great Deception" is not a remake of the earlier film, but a different version of the story. Without seeing the two films, it's impossible to tell how similar they may be.
Cast |
Credits |
|
| Ben
Lyon........................Cyril Mansfield Aileen Pringle....................................Lois Basil Rathbone................................Rizzio Sam Hardy......................................Handy Charlotte Walker............Mrs. Mansfield Amelia Summerville.................Lady Jane Hubert Wilke...Gen. Von Frankenhauser Lucien Prival........................Von Markow Lucius Henderson.........................Burton Mark Gonzales.............................Maxwell |
Production
Company.......First National Producer...............................Robert Kane Director............................Howard Higgin Screenplay.................................Paul Bern (based on novel The Yellow Dove by George Gibbs) Cinematographer................Ernest Haller |
