Erstwhile Susan

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox film | name = Erstwhile Susan | image = File:Erstwhile Susan (1919) - 19.jpg | caption = Advertisement for the film | director = John S. Robertson<br> Shaw Lovett (assistant director) | producer = Realart Pictures | writer = Kathryn Stuart (writer) | based_on = {{based on|''Barnabetta''|Helen Reimensnyder Martin}} | starring = Constance Binney<br>Mary Alden | music = | cinematography = Roy Overbaugh | editing = | distributor = Realart Pictures | released = {{film date|1919|11|16}} | runtime = 6 reels (1639.02 meters) | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) | budget = | gross = }} thumb|Scene from the film featuring (left to right) Bradley Barker, Anders Randolf, George Renavent, Mary Alden '''''Erstwhile Susan''''' is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by John S. Robertson, produced and distributed by Realart Pictures. It is based on a 1914 novel ''Barnabetta'' by Helen Reimensnyder Martin and later Broadway play ''Erstwhile Susan'' by Marian De Forest. Minnie Maddern Fiske starred in the Broadway play in 1916. This film version stars Mary Alden and Constance Binney, then an up-and-coming young actress. This film version, once thought to be lost, survives at the Museum of Modern Art.<ref>''The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20'' by The American Film Institute, c. 1988</ref><ref>[http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=8261 ''Erstwhile Susan'' as produced on Broadway at the Gaiety Theatre, January 18, 1916 to June 1916, 167 performances; IBDb.com]</ref><ref>[http://www.google.com/search?q=constance+binney&btnG=Search+Books&tbm=bks&tbo=1 ''Silent Players'': A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film actors and actresses; by Anthony Slide, pp. 21-24 c.2002]</ref>

''Erstwhile Susan'' was the first film by Realart Films, Adolph Zukor's offshoot affiliate of his Famous Players–Lasky enterprise.

==Plot== As described in an adoption in the November 1919 issue of the film magazine ''Shadowland'',<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ward|first=Jane|title=Erstwhile Susan|publisher=M. P. Publishing Co.|journal=Shadowland|volume=1|issue=3|date=November 1919|location=New York|pages=35–38, 67, 72|url=https://archive.org/details/shadowland01mppu}}</ref> Barnabetta dreams of furthering her education, but her Mennonite father Jacob disapproves. Jacob later marries Erstwhile Susan, who has money and changes the family relationships, and sends Barnabetta to college. After graduation, she helps David Jordan run for the Senate, who then professes his love for her.

==Cast== *Constance Binney as Barnabetta Dreary *Jere Austin as David Jordan *Alfred Hickman as Dr. Edgar Barrett *Mary Alden as Erstwhile Susan *Anders Randolf as Barnaby Dreary *Georges Renavent as Emanuel Dreary *Bradley Barker as Jacob Dreary *Leslie Hunt as Albert Buchter *Clare Verdera (unidentified, uncredited role)

==Preservation== A copy of the film survives at the Museum of Modern Art. ''Erstwhile Susan'' is the only Constance Binney film that survives in a complete form.<ref name="Slide">{{cite book|last=Slide|first=Anthony|author-link=Anthony Slide|title=Silent Players: A Biographical and Autobiographical Study of 100 Silent Film Actors and Actresses|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|chapter=Constance Binney|year=2010|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=plpL_xdI6NoC|isbn=978-0-8131-2249-6}}</ref> All of her other work has been lost except for a single reel from ''First Love'' (1921).<ref name="Slide"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Erstwhile Susan}} *{{IMDb title|0010090}} *Martin, Helen Reimensnyder, ''[https://archive.org/details/barnabetta00martiala Barnabetta]'', New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1914 edition illustrated with scenes from the play ''Erstwhile Susan''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Erstwhile Susan}} Category:1919 films Category:1919 American films Category:1919 drama films Category:1919 English-language films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American films based on plays Category:American silent drama films Category:American silent feature films Category:English-language drama films Category:Films based on American novels Category:Films based on multiple works Category:Films directed by John S. Robertson Category:Paramount Pictures films Category:Surviving American silent films