Under the Lash


Under the Lash is a 1921 American silent drama film directed by Sam Wood and starring Gloria Swanson. The film is based on the play The Shulamite by Claude Askew and Edward Knoblock, and the novel of the same name by Alice and Claude Askew. The film is lost with no copies of it existing in any archives.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, Deborah, the second wife of intolerant and bigoted Boer farmer Simeon Krillet, first learns of kindness from the Englishman Robert Waring who comes to study farming from her husband. When her husband threatens to beat her for reading one of the Englishman's books Deborah tells him, to save him from the young man's wrath, that she is to become a mother. He desists and his cruelty turns to kindness. The disclosure of her fabrication brings renewal of his wrath and a determination to kill her. While attempting a rescue, the Englishman kills the husband. Subsequent complications are disposed of which allows a happy ending.

Cast

Upon its release, Under the Lash was not well received by audiences. It was the only Paramount Pictures film released in the early 1920s starring Gloria Swanson that did not do well at the box office.