Locked Doors

{{short description|1925 film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Locked Doors | image = Locked Doors (1925) poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = [[William C. deMille]] | producer = | writer = [[Clara Beranger]] (story, scenario) | starring = [[Betty Compson]] | music = | cinematography = [[L. Guy Wilky]] | editing = [[Adelaide Cannon]] | distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]] | released = {{Film date|1925|01|05|U.S.}} | runtime = 70 minutes | country = United States | language = [[Silent film|Silent]]<br>(English [[intertitle]]s) }} '''''Locked Doors''''' is a 1925 American silent [[romantic drama film]] directed by [[William C. deMille]] and starring [[Betty Compson]]. It was produced by [[Famous Players–Lasky]] and distributed by Paramount Pictures.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/10330-LOCKED-DOORS |title=Locked Doors |work=afi.com |access-date=March 21, 2024}}</ref><ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/L/LockedDoors1925.html Progressive Silent Film List: ''Locked Doors''] at silentera.com</ref>

==Plot== As described in a review in a film magazine,<ref name="MPBW">{{cite journal |last=Sewell |first=Charles S. |author-link= |title=''Locked Doors''; William DeMille's Newest for Paramount is Dramatic Story of a Wife Who Loves Another Man |journal=The Moving Picture World |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=367–368 |publisher=Chalmers Publishing Co. |location=New York City |date=24 January 1925 |url=https://archive.org/details/movingpicturewor72janf/page/367/mode/1up |access-date=25 July 2021}}</ref> Mary (Compson) is married to architect Norman Carter (Edeson) who is many years her senior. Norman also provides a home for her invalid father (Roberts) who spends his time cheating at [[Solitaire (card game)|solitaire]] and trying to get a drink. She respects him but does not love him although he is intensely in love with her. While visiting friends at a lodge in the mountains, she strikes up an acquaintance and then deliberately flirts with John Talbot (von Eltz), and they fall madly in love with another. Norman gives John a job at his office and, after discovering that John is in love with some married woman, invites him to his home to allow him to forget about her. Under the watchful eyes of the husband and his sister Laura (Williams), John and Mary pretend they have never met before and try to hide their love, but it grows more intense. When Norman discovers the truth, he decides to send John to work on a project in Italy. John recklessly goes to see Mary in her room to bid her farewell when a fire breaks out in the house. John cannot get out without now compromising Mary, and she refuses to leave him, so they stay there in her bedroom. Intending to save his wife, Norman breaks into the room and finds them together. The husband rescues Mary and John manages to get back to his own room. The next day, realizing that he will never have the love of his wife, Norman tells them that, while John is in Italy, he will arrange so that Mary can get her divorce so that they will be happy.

==Cast== {{Cast listing| *[[Betty Compson]] as Mary Reid Carter *[[Theodore Roberts]] as Mr. Reid *[[Kathlyn Williams]] as Laura Carter *[[Theodore von Eltz]] as John Talbot *[[Robert Edeson]] as Norman Carter *Elmo Billings as Mickey *[[Harry Stubbs (actor)|Harry Stubbs]] as undetermined role (uncredited) *[[Rosalind Byrne]] as undetermined role (uncredited) }}

==Preservation== ''Locked Doors'' is currently [[lost film | presumed lost]].<ref name=''LOC''>{{Cite web |date= |others= |title=The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: ''Locked Doors'' |url=http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.6995/default.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230930014112/http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.6995/default.html |archive-date=2023-09-30 |access-date=2026-04-20 |website=memory.loc.gov}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.silentsaregolden.com/arneparamountpictures.html |title= ''Locked Doors'' at Lost Film Files: ''Paramount Pictures Lost Films - 1925'' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150822130955/http://www.silentsaregolden.com/arneparamountpictures.html |archive-date=2015-08-22 |access-date=2024-03-21 |url-status=live |publisher=SilentsAreGolden.com}}</ref> In February of 2021, the film was cited by the [[National Film Preservation Board]] on their Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films list.<ref name="Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films">{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-film-preservation-board/documents/SFF-LostFilmsList020421.pdf |title=7,200 Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films (1912-29) |publisher=National Film Preservation Board |access-date=April 20, 2026}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|0016036}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Locked Doors}} [[Category:1925 films]] [[Category:1925 lost films]] [[Category:1925 romantic drama films]] [[Category:1925 American films]] [[Category:1925 English-language films]] [[Category:American black-and-white films]] [[Category:American silent feature films]] [[Category:English-language romantic drama films]] [[Category:Films directed by William C. deMille]] [[Category:Lost American silent romantic drama films]] [[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]