A Wise Fool

{{short description|1921 film by George Melford}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}} {{infobox film | name = A Wise Fool | image = A Wise Fool (1921) - Ad 2.jpg | caption = Newspaper ad | director = George Melford | writer = Sir Gilbert Parker (adaptation) | based_on = {{based on|''The Money Master''|Sir Gilbert Parker}} | starring = James Kirkwood, Sr. | music = | cinematography = William Marshall | studio = Famous Players–Lasky | distributor = Famous Players–Lasky<br>Paramount Pictures | released = {{film date|1921|6|26}} | runtime = | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) }} '''''A Wise Fool''''' is a 1921 American silent drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and released by Paramount Pictures. This film is based on the novel ''The Money Master'' by Sir Gilbert Parker and was directed by George Melford. James Kirkwood is the star of the film.<ref>{{cite book|last=White Munden|first=Kenneth |title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1921-1930|year=1997|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-20969-9|page=910}}</ref> A copy is held at the Library of Congress.<ref>''Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress'' published by The American Film Institute, p. 210, c.1978</ref><ref>[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.2359/default.html The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''A Wise Fool'']</ref>

==Plot== Based upon a description in a film publication,<ref name="FilmDaily">{{cite journal |title=''A Wise Fool'': Good Atmosphere May Make Up for Fairly Slow Moving Story |journal=Film Daily |volume=16 |issue=65 |page=5 |publisher=Wyd's Films and Film Folks, Inc. |location=New York City |date=June 5, 1921 |url=https://archive.org/details/filmdailyvolume11516newy |accessdate=March 26, 2014}}</ref> Jean Jacques Barbille (Kirkwood), a wealthy egoist and philosopher in the small parish of Quebec, returns from Paris with Carmen Dolores (Hollister), a Spanish girl, as his wife. When their daughter Zoe (Forrest) is grown, Carmen realizes that her husband neglects her, and finally leaves him. When Jean objects to her marriage, Zoe goes west with her lover. Then Jean's mill burns down, and his money is stolen. After long wanderings Jean comes upon his wife, who is ill in a convent. There is a reconciliation and then his daughter, who had been searching for Jean, and her husband arrive.

==Cast== {{Cast listing| * James Kirkwood as Jean Jacques Barbille * Alice Hollister as Carmen Dolores * Ann Forrest as Zoe Barbille * Alan Hale as George Masson * Fred Huntley as Sebastian Dolores * William Boyd as Gerard Fynes * Truly Shattuck as Virginia Poucette * Harry Duffield as Fille * Charles Ogle as Judge Carcasson * John Herdman as The Curate * Mabel Van Buren as Madame Langlois * Wheeler Oakman (uncredited) }}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|A Wise Fool}} *{{IMDb title|0012853}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20140913063008/http://silenthollywood.com/awisefool1921.html Promotional still of Ann Forrest] at silenthollywood.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wise Fool, A}} Category:1921 films Category:1921 drama films Category:American silent drama films Category:American silent feature films Category:American black-and-white films Category:Famous Players–Lasky films Category:Films based on Canadian novels Category:Films based on works by Gilbert Parker Category:Films directed by George Melford Category:Films shot in California Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:1921 American films Category:Surviving American silent films Category:1921 English-language films Category:English-language drama films