The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927) is a silent film about Helen of Troy based on a novel by John Erskine and adapted to screen by Gerald C. Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Korda and starred Maria Corda as Helen, Lewis Stone as Menelaus, and Ricardo Cortez as Paris.
Coming at the end of the silent film era, it received the honor of being nominated for an Academy Award in 1929, the year of the Awards' inception, in the category of Best Title Writing. However, Gerald Duffy died on 25 June 1928, and he has the distinction of being the first person to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award.
That same year, the first "talkie," The Jazz Singer, received an honorary award for introducing sound to film, and the category for which The Private Life of Helen of Troy was nominated was dropped by the second Academy Awards.
Two sections from the beginning and end, running about 27-30 minutes in total, are reportedly all that survive of The Private Life of Helen of Troy; they are preserved by the British Film Institute.
Read more about The Private Life Of Helen Of Troy: Cast
Famous quotes containing the words private, life and/or helen:
“Old politicians, like old actors, revive in the limelight. The vacancy which afflicts them in private momentarily lifts when, once more, they feel the eyes of an audience upon them. Their old passion for holding the centre of the stage guides their uncertain footsteps to where the footlights shine, and summons up a wintry smile when the curtain rises.”
—Malcolm Muggeridge (1903–1990)
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched seabeams glitter in the dark near the Tennhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Roy Batty, Blade Runner, final words before dying—as an android he had a built-in life span that expired (1982)
“You must never throw away things that are worth good money.”
—Abraham Polonsky, U.S. screenwriter, Frank Butler, and Helen Deutsch. Mitchell Leisen. Lydia (Marlene Dietrich)