Tess of the D'urbervilles
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
J. Searle Dawley
Mrs. Fiske
Raymond Bond
David Torrence
John Steppling
Mary Barker
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
When John Durbeyfield, an indolent peasant, learns that he is a descendant of the prestigious D'Urberville family of Wessex, he sends his beautiful daughter Tess to claim the relationship, but her encounter with the lecherous Alec D'Urberville only brings her misfortune. Returning home, Tess bears a child who soon dies, after which she leaves her family and finds work on a dairy farm. There she meets and marries young Angel Clare, who, upon learning of her liaison with Alec D'Urberville, abandons her. Utterly destitute, Tess reluctantly agrees to accept Alec's protection and is living in misery with the brute when Angel, his love renewed, returns. Seeing her with Alec, Angel turns to depart, whereupon the desperate Tess kills Alec and joins her beloved husband. The lovers take refuge in the ruins of Stonehenge, but in the end, Tess is arrested for her crime.
Director
J. Searle Dawley
Cast
Mrs. Fiske
Raymond Bond
David Torrence
John Steppling
Mary Barker
James Gordon
Maggie Weston
Irma La Pierre
Katherine Griffith
Franklin Hall
Camille Dalberg
J. Liston
Boots Wall
Caroline Darling
Justina Huff
John Troughton
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The exterior scenes were filmed in New England. Minnie Maddern Fiske, popularly known as Mrs. Fiske, first appeared in Lorimer Stoddard's stage version of Hardy's novel in New York, March 2, 1897. A version of the novel was made by director Roman Polanski under the title Tess in 1980.
