The Woman Who Dared
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
George E. Middleton
Beatriz Michelena
Clarence Arper
William Pike
Andrew Robson
Albert Morrison
Film Details
Synopsis
Princess Beatriz de Rohan, opera singer and society belle, is enjoying a personal success in Faust . She is romantically pursued by Count D'Olli, an Italian diplomat, who has in his possession an important government document, a treaty between Italy and Russia. Henri, Beatriz's brother, wants to steal this document so that the French government can examine it, and he prevails upon Beatriz to help with the theft. Beatriz is also courted by a young American, Noel Brent. When Beatriz secures the treaty, she gives it to Henri's messenger Guyot, who is killed by Duke Grozzi's henchman. This killing is witnessed by Noel Brent, and in his dying moments Guyot tells Noel to give the treaty to Beatriz. Duke Grozzi, who also has designs upon Beatriz, intends to steal the document and blackmail Beatriz by revealing her duplicity with the count. Eventually, Noel sacrifices his good name to protect Beatriz but in the end wins Beatriz away from Count D'Olli.
Director
George E. Middleton
Cast
Beatriz Michelena
Clarence Arper
William Pike
Andrew Robson
Albert Morrison
Capt. Leslie Peacocke
John Lord
James Leslie
Frank Hollins
D. Mitsoras
Al Mckinnon
Film Details
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Most contemporary reviews list the source novel as the work of C. N. and A. M. Williamson, but the British Museum Catalog credits only Alice Muriel Williamson as author. Fernando Michelena, the star's father and formerly a leading American tenor, staged the film's opera scenes. The film was announced by California, first as a March 1916, then a May 1916, release, but was not given a trade showing until July 1916, when it was eight reels long. It was subsequently cut to seven reels and announced as a November 1916 release. It is unclear whether the film actually played in theaters before California pulled it from the state rights market. It was released, or re-released, to the state rights market in March 1917 by the Better-Than-Program Distributing Co. with Ultra Pictures Corp. as the film's "sole distributor." California Motion Picture Corp. is not mentioned in ads for or trade articles on the March 1917 release; however, "Better-Than-Program" was the series name under which California planned to release the film in early 1916, and it May be that California still controlled the film in 1917. The film was shot in the company's studio in San Rafael, CA.
