A Fallen Idol


A Fallen Idol is a lost 1919 American silent melodrama film starring Evelyn Nesbit, a famed former model and Broadway showgirl who had been at the center of two highly publicized court trials after her wealthy husband shot and killed a prominent architect in 1906 in front of hundreds of witnesses. The plot has some parallels with Nesbit's well-known life story, as do most of the films in which she appeared – exploiting her fame to attract audiences to her films. As in her life, the story centers around a beautiful woman pursued by two male rivals and a rape by a man of wealth and power. Other aspects of the story are quite different from those of her life. Nesbit plays a Hawaiian princess.

Plot

The plot centers around the Hawaiian Princess Laone, whose love for a man named Keith Parrish is thwarted by societal pressure from her benefactor Mrs. Parrish, who is his aunt. Princess Laone is despondent after being persuaded to refuse Keith Parrish's proposal, and she attempts suicide, but is rescued by Keith Parrish. After Parrish leaves town to take care of his father, Princess Laone is told he has abandoned her, and she departs for Hawaii on board the yacht of the dastardly wealthy playboy Stephen Brainard. Princess Laone is forced into having sex with Brainard by being threatened with gang rape by his crew. Keith Parrish is accused of stealing a sacred necklace, but Princess Laone is able to prove that he is innocent and that Brainard was smuggling the necklace. Brainard is arrested and the princess is able to marry Keith Parrish in the end.

Cast