The Dumb Girl of Portici is a 1916 American silent historical drama film directed by Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber and starring Anna Pavlova, Rupert Julian and Wadsworth Harris. It was adapted by Weber from the libretto by Germain Delavigne and Eugène Scribe for Daniel Auber's 1828 opera La muette de Portici (The Mute of Portici). The film marked Pavlova's only feature film performance.
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Overview
The film was Universal's most expensive film to that date, made at a cost at approximately $300,000. It was also the longest film made by a woman director in the 1910s.
Plot
Fenella (Anna Pavlova) is a poor Italian girl who falls in love with the Duke's (Wadsworth Harris) son Alphonso, a Spanish nobleman.
Cast
Anna Pavlova as Fenella
Rupert Julian as Masaniello
Wadsworth Harris as Duke d'Arcos
Douglas Gerrard as Alphonso
Jack Holt as Conde
Betty Schade as Isabella
Edna Maison as Elvira
Jack Hoxie as Perrone
William Wolbert as Pietro
Laura Oakley as Rilla
Nigel De Brulier as Father Francisco
Lina Basquette as Child
Release
The film was released on DVD/Blu-ray in 2018 with a new score by John Sweeney.