{{short description|1920 silent film by Ida May Park}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Bonnie May | image = Bonnie May (1920) - 8.jpg | alt = | caption = Magazine advertisement | director = {{Plain list| * Ida May Park * Joseph De Grasse}} | producer = Andrew J. Callaghan | writer = <!-- or: | writers = --> | screenplay = | story = | based_on = {{based on|''Bonnie May'' (novel)|Louis Dodge}} | starring = {{Plain list| * Bessie Love * Charles Gordon}} | narrator = <!-- or: | narrators = --> | music = | cinematography = Sam Landers<ref name="autobiography">{{cite book |last=Love |first=Bessie |year=1977 |title=From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love |location=London |publisher=Elm Tree Books|oclc=734075937|page=150}}</ref> | editing = | studio = Andrew J. Callaghan Productions, Inc.<ref name="movpicwor471movi">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/movpicwor471movi|title=Celebrated Exchange to Handle Feature Films|page=200|magazine=Moving Picture World|date=November 13, 1920}}</ref> | distributor = Federated Film Exchanges of America, Inc.<ref name="superproduction" /> | released = {{film date|1920|10|17|U.S.|ref1=<ref name="superproduction">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald11exhi_1|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|date=October 16, 1920|pages=30–31|title=Federated Exchanges Announce The Release of the First Super-Production Starring Bessie Love. 'Bonnie May'}}</ref>}} | runtime = 5 reels<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald11exhi_1|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|date=November 27, 1920|page=102|title=Federated Exchanges}}</ref> | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) | budget = $75,000<ref name="movpicwor512movi">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/movpicwor512movi|magazine=Moving Picture World|date=August 6, 1921|page=592|title=Callaghan Asks Injunction Restraining Federated from Exhibiting Productions}}</ref> | gross = <!--(please use condensed and rounded values, e.g. "£11.6 million" not "£11,586,221")--> }} '''''Bonnie May''''' is a lost<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.3879/default.html The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:''Bonnie May'']</ref> silent 1920 American comedy-drama<ref name="stanford" /> film based on the 1916 novel by Louis Dodge.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yyqc0Qa6b60C&pg=PA129|title=The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film|editor-first=Alan|editor-last=Goble|page=129|isbn=978-3-11-095194-3|date=September 8, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Bonnie May|first=Louis|last=Dodge|location=New York|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|date=1916|oclc=7631985|url=https://archive.org/details/bonniemay00dodggoog}}</ref> It was directed by Ida May Park and Joseph De Grasse<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald11exhi_1|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|date=September 11, 1920|page=53|title=Two Directors Get Big Results in "Bonnie May"}}</ref> and starred Bessie Love. It was produced by Andrew J. Callaghan Productions<ref name="movpicwor471movi" /> and distributed by Federated Film Exchanges of America, Inc.<ref name="superproduction" />
== Plot == An orphaned girl grows up in the theater. She becomes smarter and stronger, and never loses her optimism.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1893&id=WikrAAAAIBAJ&pg=2543,4074060|title=Bessie Love Here in 'Bonnie May'|newspaper=The Southeast Missourian|date=December 29, 1920|page=5}}</ref>
== Cast == {{Cast listing| * Bessie Love<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/motionpicturestu00johnrich|title=Motion Picture Studio Directory and Trade Annual 1921|publisher=Motion Picture News, Inc.|date=1921|pages=[https://archive.org/details/motionpicturestu00johnrich/page/155 155], 174, 196, 230, 261}}</ref> * Charles Gordon * William Herbert Bainbridge * Lon Poff * Miss DuPont<ref name="autobiography" /> }}
== Release == As this was Bessie Love's first film with Film Exchanges of America, Inc., it was very heavily promoted. A thirty-eight page press book was created, as well as special souvenir mirrors.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald11exhi_1|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|date=October 9, 1920|title='Bonnie May' Given Strong Exploitation|page=89}}</ref>
On its release, it was shown with ''The Son of Tarzan''; ''Mystic Mush'', a Hank Mann comedy; and a Mutt and Jeff cartoon.<ref name="stanford">{{cite news|url=http://stanforddailyarchive.com/cgi-bin/stanford?a=d&d=stanford19210603-01.2.37.4&e=-------en-20--21--txt-txIN-student+army+training+corps------|newspaper=The Daily Palo Alto|volume=59|issue=66|date=June 3, 1921|title=Stanford Theatre Palo Alto|page=4}}</ref>
After its release, producer Andrew J. Callaghan sued Federated Film Exchanges, saying that the distributor had not paid the full amount to distribute this film, ''The Midlanders'', and ''Penny of Top Hill Trail''.<ref name="movpicwor512movi" />
== Reception == The film received positive reviews.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald15exhi|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|title=Bonnie May (Federated), with Bessie Love.|quote=Boy, she was a dinger. A good clean story, and real acting.|first=R. Ross|last=Riley}}</ref> Author Louis Dodge, who wrote the novel on which the film is based, highly praised Love's performance.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Consider Federated Ideal Medium of Distribution for Any Picture Author Declares that Bessie Love's Portrayal in First Production 'Will Certainly Be a Triumph For Bonnie May'|page=56|magazine=Exhibitors Herald|date=September 11, 1920|url=https://archive.org/details/exhibitorsherald11exhi_0|quote=It seems to be an entirely happy inspiration which brought Miss Bessie Love and Bonnie May together. While I had never seen the beautiful and intelligent work of Miss Love at the time I wrote my book, it might almost seem that she had supplied the model for my study. I predict that when Miss Love portrays the character, she will—to paraphrase an old anecdote—not merely enact, but actually be, Bonnie May. It will very certainly be a triumph for Bonnie May. I hope also it will be a triumph for Bessie Love.}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
== External links == {{Commons category|Bonnie May}} * {{IMDb title|0011015}} * {{AFI film|17650}} * {{tcmdb title|489483}} * [https://www.imdb.com/media/rm3501563648/tt0011015 Lantern slide]
Category:1920 films Category:1920 comedy-drama films Category:1920 lost films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American silent feature films Category:Films based on American novels Category:Films directed by Ida May Park Category:1920 American films Category:1920 English-language films Category:English-language comedy-drama films Category:Lost American silent comedy-drama films