Red Dice

{{short description|1926 film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = The Red Dice | image = Red Dice (SAYRE 14046).jpg | caption = Still with La Rocque and De La Motte | director = William K. Howard<br/>Richard Donaldson (asst. director) | producer = DeMille Pictures Corporation | writer = Douglas Z. Doty<br>Jeanie MacPherson | based_on = {{basedon|''The Iron Chalice''|Octavus Roy Cohen}} | starring = Rod La Rocque<br>Marguerite De La Motte | music = | cinematography = Lucien Andriot | editing = | studio = De Mille Pictures Corp. | distributor = Producers Distributing Corporation (PDC) | released = {{Film date|1926|03|14}} | runtime = 70 minutes | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) }} [[File:Red Dice ad in The Film Daily, Jan-Jun 1926 (page 764 crop).jpg|thumb|354x354px|Red Dice ad in The Film Daily, 1926]] '''''The Red Dice''''' is a 1926 American silent crime drama film directed by William K. Howard and produced by Cecil B. DeMille. It stars Rod La Rocque and Marguerite De La Motte and was released through Producers Distributing Corporation.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/R/RedDice1926.html Progressive Silent Film List: ''Red Dice''] at silentera.com</ref> Art direction for the film was done by Max Parker. The film was adapted by Jeanie MacPherson and Douglas Z. Doty from the 1925 Octavus Roy Cohen novel ''The Iron Chalice''. The novel was adapted again in 1931 as ''The Big Gamble''.<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/11592-RED-DICE |title=The Red Dice |work=afi.com |access-date=April 6, 2024}}</ref>

==Plot== As described in a film magazine review,<ref>{{Citation |last=Pardy |first=George T. |author-link= |title=Pre-Release Review of Features: ''Red Dice'' |journal=Motion Picture News |volume=33 |issue=14 |pages=1527 |date=3 April 1926 |publisher=Motion Picture News, Inc. |location=New York City, New York |url=https://archive.org/details/motionnews33moti/page/n502/mode/1up |access-date=16 April 2023}} {{Source-attribution}}</ref> Alan Beckwith, who is broke, agrees to insure his life naming bootleg king Andrew North beneficiary, and agreeing to commit suicide later. Ala rolls a pair of red dice to determine the date he will die. He weds Beverly Vane, a woman of North's choosing whose brother Johnny is in North's power. Alan and Beverly fall in love. He and Johnny plot to seize one of North's rum cargoes. They are trapped by North and his men, but Beverly appears in time with revenue officers. The North gang is arrested. Beverly and Alan face a happy future together.

==Cast== {{Cast listing| *Rod La Rocque as Alan Beckwith *Marguerite De La Motte as Beverly Vane *Ray Hallor as Johnny Vane *Gustav von Seyffertitz as Andrew North *George Cooper as Squint Scoggins *Walter Long as Nick Webb *Edith Yorke as Mrs. Garrison *Clarence Burton as Butler *Charles Clary as District Attorney *Alan Brooks as Conroy }}

==Preservation== With no prints of ''Red Dice'' located in any film archives, it is considered a lost film.<ref name="American Silent Feature Film Database">{{cite web |url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.8598/ |title=American Silent Feature Film Database: ''Red Dice'' |access-date=April 6, 2024 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</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="afi"/> A 48-second trailer of the film still exists.{{Citation needed|reason=Couldn't find reference among currently referenced sources|date=April 2024}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Red Dice}} *{{IMDb title|0017317}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Dice, The}} Category:1926 films Category:American silent feature films Category:Films directed by William K. Howard Category:Films based on American novels Category:American black-and-white films Category:English-language crime drama films Category:Producers Distributing Corporation films Category:1926 crime drama films Category:1926 lost films Category:1926 American films Category:1926 English-language films Category:Lost American silent crime drama films