# New Brooms

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/New_Brooms
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/New_Brooms.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brooms
> Source revision: 1348818189
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

1925 film

New Brooms Advertisement for the film Directed by William C. deMille Written by Clara Beranger (scenario) Based on New Brooms: a Comedy in Three Acts (play) by Frank Craven [1][2] Produced by Adolph Zukor Jesse Lasky Starring Bessie Love Neil Hamilton Phyllis Haver Cinematography L. Guy Wilky Production company Famous Players–Lasky Distributed by Paramount Pictures Release date October 12, 1925 (1925-10-12) (U.S.) Running time 6 reels; 5,443 feet[3] Country United States Language Silent (English intertitles)

***New Brooms*** is a 1925 American [silent](/source/Silent_film) [romantic comedy](/source/Romantic_comedy)[3] directed by [William C. deMille](/source/William_C._deMille) and starring [Bessie Love](/source/Bessie_Love), [Neil Hamilton](/source/Neil_Hamilton_(actor)), and [Phyllis Haver](/source/Phyllis_Haver). It was produced by [Famous Players–Lasky](/source/Famous_Players%E2%80%93Lasky) and distributed by [Paramount Pictures](/source/Paramount_Pictures). It is based on [Frank Craven](/source/Frank_Craven)'s 1924 Broadway play of the same name.[4][5][6]

## Plot

The wealthy Bates family owns a profitable broom factory, but father Thomas Sr. is criticized by his son, Thomas Jr., for his outdated business practices. Thomas Sr. agrees to let his son run the business for a year.

The family also takes in Geraldine Marsh, the daughter of a family friend who has fallen on hard times. Thomas Jr. falls for Geraldine and breaks off his engagement to Florence Levering, but then suspects that his father is also in love with Geraldine and sends his father and Geraldine away.

After his year of managing the company ended, he had been proven an unsuccessful businessman. His father and Geraldine are allowed to return, and when he sees that they were never in love, he marries Geraldine and returns control of the factory to his father.[1][3]

## Cast

- [Bessie Love](/source/Bessie_Love) as Geraldine Marsh

- [Neil Hamilton](/source/Neil_Hamilton_(actor)) as Thomas Bates Jr.

- [Phyllis Haver](/source/Phyllis_Haver) as Florence Levering

- [Robert McWade](/source/Robert_McWade) as Thomas Bates Sr.

- [Fred Walton](/source/Fred_Walton_(actor)) as Williams

- [Josephine Crowell](/source/Josephine_Crowell) as Margaret

- [Larry Steers](/source/Larry_Steers) as George Morrow

- [James Neill](/source/James_Neill_(actor)) as Kneeland

## Release and reception

Given the film's title, theaters reported some difficulty attracting audiences without incorporating broom-themed displays.[7] Such displays did seem to prove successful.[8][9][10]

The film received positive reviews.[7]

## Preservation

With no prints of *New Brooms* located in any film archives, it is considered a [lost film](/source/Lost_film).[11]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-aficat_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-aficat_1-1) Munden, Kenneth W., ed. (1971). [*The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1921–1930*](https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer). New York: [R.R. Bowker Company](/source/R.R._Bowker). p. [540](https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer/page/540). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [664500075](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/664500075).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Craven, Frank (1925). *New Brooms: a Comedy in Three Acts*. New York, NY: [Samuel French, Inc.](/source/Samuel_French%2C_Inc.) [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [3209381](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/3209381).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-motionpicturenew00moti_9_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-motionpicturenew00moti_9_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-motionpicturenew00moti_9_3-2) ["Pre-Release Reviews of Features"](https://archive.org/details/motionpicturenew00moti_9/page/n879). *Motion Picture News*. October 24, 1925. p. 1946.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Bennett, Carl (June 20, 2011). ["Progressive Silent Film List: *New Brooms*"](http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/N/NewBrooms1925.html). *Silent Era*. Retrieved November 30, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["*New Brooms* as Produced on Broadway at the Fulton Theatre, November 17, 1924, 88 Performances"](http://ibdb.com/show.php?id=6479). *IBDb.com*. Retrieved November 30, 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Paramount Pictures 1925–29"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160611052907/http://silentsaregolden.com/arneparamountpictures.html). *Arne Andersen's Lost Film Files*. Archived from [the original](http://www.silentsaregolden.com/arneparamountpictures.html) on June 11, 2016. Retrieved February 8, 2012.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-movpicwor77movi-n415_7-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-movpicwor77movi-n415_7-1) Van Buren Powell, A., ed. (December 5, 1925). ["Straight from the Shoulder Reports"](https://archive.org/details/movpicwor77movi/page/n415). *Moving Picture World*. p. 446.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Newest Brooms"](https://archive.org/details/movpicwor77movi/page/n229). *Moving Picture World*. November 21, 1925. p. 256.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Rodney Bush Used Compo Bord for His New Brooms"](https://archive.org/details/movpicwor77movi/page/n623). *Moving Picture World*. December 19, 1925. p. 666.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Making a Clean Sweep with New Brooms for New Brooms"](https://archive.org/details/movpicwor77movi/page/n755). *Moving Picture World*. December 26, 1925. p. 803.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["American Silent Feature Film Database: *New Brooms*"](https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.7831/). Library of Congress. Retrieved March 21, 2024.

## External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to [New Brooms](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:New_Brooms).

- [*New Brooms*](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016151/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

- [*New Brooms*](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/10948) at the *[AFI Catalog of Feature Films](/source/AFI_Catalog_of_Feature_Films)*

- [*New Brooms*](https://web.archive.org/web/1/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/495933/enwp) at the [TCM Movie Database](/source/Turner_Classic_Movies#TCMdb) (archived)

- [Poster](http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/new-brooms-1925-silent-comedy-herald-bessie) at WorthPoint

v t e Films directed by William C. deMille The Only Son (1914) The Ragamuffin (1916) The Blacklist (1916) The Sowers (1916) The Clown (1916) Common Ground (1916) Anton the Terrible (1916) The Heir to the Hoorah (1916) Hashimura Togo (1917) The Ghost House (1917) The Secret Game (1917) The Widow's Might (1918) One More American (1918) The Honor of His House (1918) Mirandy Smiles (1918) The Mystery Girl (1918) The Tree of Knowledge (1920) Jack Straw (1920) The Prince Chap (1920) Conrad in Quest of His Youth (1920) Midsummer Madness (1921) What Every Woman Knows (1921) The Lost Romance (1921) After the Show (1921) Miss Lulu Bett (1921) Bought and Paid For (1922) Nice People (1922) Clarence (1922) The World's Applause (1923) Grumpy (1923) Only 38 (1923) The Marriage Maker (1923) Don't Call It Love (1923) Icebound (1924) The Bedroom Window (1924) The Fast Set (1924) Locked Doors (1925) Men and Women (1925) Lost: A Wife (1925) New Brooms (1925) The Splendid Crime (1926) The Runaway (1926) For Alimony Only (1926) The Little Adventuress (1927) Craig's Wife (1928) Tenth Avenue (1928) The Doctor's Secret (1929) Midnight Life (1929) The Idle Rich (1929) This Mad World (1930) Passion Flower (1930) Two Kinds of Women (1932) His Double Life (1933)

This article about a silent comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Silent-comedy-film-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3ASilent-comedy-film-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Silent-comedy-film-stub)

This article about a 1920s romantic comedy film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

- [v](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:1920s-romantic-comedy-film-stub)
- [t](/source/Template_talk%3A1920s-romantic-comedy-film-stub)
- [e](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:1920s-romantic-comedy-film-stub)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [New Brooms](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brooms) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Brooms?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.