The Scarlet Letter

1926
Passed
1h 55m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Lillian Gish in The Scarlet Letter (1926)

After having a child out of wedlock, a young Puritan woman is pressured to reveal the name of her lover.After having a child out of wedlock, a young Puritan woman is pressured to reveal the name of her lover.After having a child out of wedlock, a young Puritan woman is pressured to reveal the name of her lover.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win total

Photos59

+ 53

Top cast24

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Lillian Gish

Hester Prynne

Lars Hanson

The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale

Henry B. Walthall

Roger Prynne

Karl Dane

Giles

William H. Tooker

The Governor

Marcelle Corday

Mistress Hibbins

Fred Herzog

The Jailer

Jules Cowles

The Beadle

Mary Hawes

Patience

Joyce Coad

Pearl

James A. Marcus

A Sea Captain

Buck Black

Child in crowd
(uncredited)

Nora Cecil

Townswoman
(uncredited)

Iron Eyes Cody

Young Indian at Dunking
(uncredited)

Artye Folz

Child
(uncredited)

Dorothy Gray

Child
(uncredited)

Douglas Haig

Minor Role
(uncredited)

Betsy Ann Hisle

Child
(uncredited)

Storyline

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Did you know

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Trivia
Lillian Gish learned that her mother had had a stroke in London and her sister, Dorothy Gish, urged her to get there on the first available boat. When Lillian informed director Victor Sjöström of the need to finish the film quickly, he created a shooting schedule that crammed two weeks worth of shooting into three days of non-stop work. The crew worked without complaint so that she could finish the film early and catch the earliest possible train to New York.

Quotes
Mistress Hibbins: I am wrongly accused! Never hath my tongue been given to gossip!
The Governor: Falsehood! Her tongue hath wagged like the tail of a dog! Duck her again!

Alternate versions
In 2000, Turner Entertainment Co. copyrighted a restored version with a musical score written by Lisa Anne Miller and Mark Northam and a running time of 98 minutes. Its previous version ran 79 minutes.

Connections
Featured in The 43rd Annual Academy Awards (1971)

User reviews38

Review

Featured review

There Just Aren't Enough Words.....

There just aren't enough words to describe the beautiful performances in this film....not that words are needed, then or now. Victor Seastrom's lovingly crafted scenes provide perfect visual frames for the transcendent performances of Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson. An artistic triumph for everyone concerned, and a bittersweet reminder of what was lost with the death of the art of the silent film. (The Turner restoration is alas, also bittersweet, as prints of wildly differing quality had to be "married" in order to create a substantially complete copy of the subject. Thus, viewers move from scenes that shimmer with pristine beauty to muddy, contrasty dupes. It's a tribute to the art of all concerned however, that this is not the distracting issue it might be with a lesser film. Like any work of art, you won't notice the cracks and flaws after a while if you're paying attention as you should. It's just a shame that the entire film isn't as mint-fresh as some of its scenes.)