{{short description|1925 film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = The Last Edition | image = x200px| | caption = Last Edition Lobby Card {{break}}{{break}} | director = Emory Johnson | producer = Emory Johnson Productions | writer = Emilie Johnson (story and screenplay) | starring = Ralph Lewis | cinematography = Gilbert Warrenton | editing = | studio = | distributor = Film Booking Offices of America | released = {{Film date|1925|11|8}} | runtime = 7 reels | country = United States | language = Silent{{break}}English intertitles }} '''The Last Edition''' is a 1925 American silent melodrama directed by Emory Johnson. FBO released the film in November 1925. The film's "All-Star" cast included Ralph Lewis as a press man at the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' newspaper. Emilie Johnson, Johnson's mother, wrote both the story and screenplay. {{em|The Last Edition}} was the seventh film in Johnson's eight-picture contract with FBO.<ref name="AFIref">{{AFI film|10165|The Last Edition}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/497213/the-last-edition|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404072449/http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/497213/The-Last-Edition/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 4, 2019|title=The Last Edition|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref>

==Plot== thumb|thumbtime=0|''The Last Edition'' (1925) The story starts by introducing us to Tom McDonald, a pressman and the assistant foreman in the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' pressroom. Tom finds out he was passed over for the job of press foreman. The job was given to a younger man. Though disappointed, he takes solace in knowing his son Ray McDonald has a good job in the district attorney's office. Tom also has a daughter – Polly.

Clarence Walker a reporter for ''The Chronicle'' works in the same building as Tom. Clarence secretly admires Polly McDonald. Currently, Clarence is also working on a hot story about a gang of bootleggers. The bootleggers feel Clarence is getting too close to their operations. They devise a plan to throw Clarence off their track. They create a news diversion by setting up another hot story for Clarence to follow. They frame prominent attorney Ray McDonald on a bribery charge.

Clarence jumps on the new lead, investigates the accusations, and quickly files his bribery story at the front desk of {{em|The Chronicle.}} Clarence's account is deemed a headliner for the newspaper. When the editor checks, they find out there is just enough time for Clarence's bribery story to make the newspaper's last edition. Just as the story is about to hit the presses, Tom McDonald finds out the evening's headline is about his son Ray. After reading the article, Tom knows in his heart that Ray could not be guilty of any bribery charge. Tom becomes enraged and attempts to destroy the press.

Tom's attempted destruction fails. During this time, the entire ''Chronicle'' plant burns to the ground. Tom is blamed for the fire. He is immediately thrown in jail, coincidentally in the same cell as his son.

Clarence believes Tom when he says his son is innocent. Clarence teams up with Polly to investigate the circumstances surrounding the bribery charge. After working together, they uncover evidence exonerating both father and son. A new plant is constructed; Tom is promoted to foreperson; Clarence marries Polly.

==Cast== {|class="wikitable" !Actor||Role |- | Ralph Lewis || Tom McDonald |- | Lila Leslie || Mary McDonald |- | Ray Hallor || Ray McDonald |- | Frances Teague|| Polly McDonald |- | Rex Lease || Clarence Walker |- | Lou Payne || George Hamilton |- | David Kirby || Red Moran |- | Wade Boteler || Mike Fitzgerald |- | Cuyler Supplee || Gerald Fuller |- | Lee Willard || Aaron Hoffman |- | Will Frank || Sam Blotz |- | Ada Mae Vaughn || Stenographer |- | Billy Bakewell || "Ink" Donovan |- | John Bailey || Jim Lannigan |- | Joseph Campbell || William Wilson |- | Daniel J. O'Brien || Chief of Police |- | Tom O'Brien || "Bull" Collins |- | C. Hollister Walker || Harry Owens |- |}

==Production== [[File:The Last Edition (1925) - 2.jpg|thumb|Advertisement in ''Exhibitors Herald'']] The motion picture was filmed in and around the "Old Chronicle Building" located at 690 Market Street in downtown San Francisco. However, in 1924, ''The Chronicle'' commissioned a new headquarters at 901 Mission Street on the corner of 5th Street.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} ''The Chronicle'' completed the move in 1925, shortly after the film crews were finished shooting. It was also filmed around Cosmo Street close to Hollywood Boulevard.<ref name="AFIref"/>

== Restoration == At one time, it was believed no copies of this film had survived. In 2011, Rob Byrne, a Bay Area film preservationist, discovered a surviving copy of the film in the archives of the EYE Film Institute in the Netherlands.

The nitrate film was restored in 2013 by the EYE Film Institute and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival to create two new 35mm exhibition prints.<ref name="AFIref"/> One copy was made available to the EYE Film Institute and the other to the U.S. Library of Congress. The intertitles for the discovered copy were in Dutch and were translated back to the original English.<ref>[https://thelasteditionfilm.com/restoring-the-trailer/ Restoring the Trailer]. Retrieved April 5, 2014</ref><ref>[https://thelasteditionfilm.com/overview/ Rescuing The Last Edition: The quest to restore the "lost" 1925 drama.], retrieved April 5, 2014</ref>

==Gallery== {{Gallery |title=Cast Members and Director |width=140 | height=140 |align=center |footer= |File:RalphLewis10.png |{{center|Ralph Lewis{{break}}Tom McDonald}} |File:Lila Leslie - Jan 1920 EH.jpg |{{center|Lila Leslie{{break}}Mary McDonald}} |File:FrancesTeague.png |{{center|Frances Teague{{break}}Polly McDonald}} |File:RayHallor10.png|{{center |Ray Hallor{{break}}Ray McDonald}} |File:Film actor Wade Boteler (SAYRE 8970).jpg |{{center|Wade Boteler{{break}}Mike Fitzgerald}} |File:Asa Lee Willard, stage actor (SAYRE 11614).jpg |{{center|Asa Lee Willard{{break}}Aaron Hoffman}} |File:Adamae Vaughn photop327.jpg |Ada Mae Vaughn{{break}}Stenographer |File:DavidKirby-TSUSA.png |{{center|David Kirby{{break}}Red Moran}} |File:Cuyle Supplee-TSUSA.png |Cuyler Supplee{{break}}Gerald Fuller |File:Rex Lease.jpg |{{center|Rex Lease{{break}}Clarence Walker}} |File:Tom O'Brien, silent film actor.jpg |{{center|Tom O'Brien{{break}} "Bull" Collins}} |File:Emory Johnson 32.jpg |{{center|Emory Johnson{{break}}Director}} }}

==See also== * List of rediscovered films

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|0016008|The Last Edition}} * [http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/L/LastEdition1925.html ''The Last Edition''] at Silent Era * [http://thelasteditionfilm.com ''The Last Edition''] restoration website * [https://vimeo.com/502312517 ''The Last Edition''] restoration on Vimeo * [https://silentfilm.org/the-last-edition/ ''The Last Edition''] at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival

{{Commons category multi|Lobby cards of the United States, 1925|Emory Johnson|position=left}} {{sister bar|auto=1|d= Q16060673}} {{Portal bar|Film|1920s|United States}} {{Emory Johnson|state=collapsed}} {{authority control|qid= Q16060673}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Last Edition, The}} Category:1925 films Category:1925 adventure films Category:1925 drama films Category:1925 American films Category:1925 English-language films Category:1920s melodrama films Category:1920s rediscovered films Category:1925 romance films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American silent feature films Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Film Booking Offices of America films Category:Rediscovered American films Category:American silent action adventure films Category:American silent romantic drama films Category:Surviving American silent films Category:English-language action adventure films Category:English-language romance films