Young April

{{short description|1926 film}} {{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = Young April | image = Young April lobby card 2.jpg | alt = Vintage lobby card with a man in a light blue military coat offering flowers to a smiling woman in a green hat and pink coat, set against a stylized stone wall background | caption = Lobby card | director = Donald Crisp | producer = William Sistrom | based_on = {{based on|''Young April'' (novel)|Egerton Castle}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Young April|author-link=Egerton Castle|first=Egerton|last=Castle|location=New York|publisher=Macmillan Co.|date=1899|oclc=640013605|url=https://archive.org/details/youngapril04castgoog/}}</ref><ref name="aficat" /> | writer = {{Plainlist| * Jeanie MacPherson * Douglas Z. Doty }} | starring = {{Plainlist| * Bessie Love * Joseph Schildkraut * Rudolph Schildkraut }} | music = | cinematography = J. Peverell Marley | editing = | studio = De Mille Pictures Corp. | distributor = Producers Distributing Corporation | released = {{Film date|1926|10|11|U.S.}} | runtime = 7 reels; 6,858 feet<ref name="movpicwor82movi" /> | country = United States | language = Silent (English intertitles) }} '''''Young April''''' is a 1926 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Donald Crisp, and starring Bessie Love, Joseph Schildkraut, and Rudolph Schildkraut. The film was produced by Cecil B. DeMille's production company and distributed by Producers Distributing Corporation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/Y/YoungApril1926.html|title=Progressive Silent Film List: ''Young April''|website=Silent Era|last=Bennett|first=Carl|date=October 7, 2012}}</ref> The film was adapted from Egerton Castle's 1899 novel of the same name by Jeanie MacPherson and Douglas Z. Doty. Art direction for the film was done by Anton Grot and its costumes were designed by Adrian.<ref name="afi">{{cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/13527-YOUNG-APRIL |title=Young April |work=afi.com |access-date=April 6, 2024}}</ref>

==Plot== Prince Caryl of Belgravia is to be married to Archduchess Victoria, whom he has never met. He rebels by stealing the royal crown and going to Paris to pawn it and enjoy the money. Victoria, who has been raised an orphan in America, is told of her title and upcoming wedding, and goes to Paris for a final week of freedom and a shopping spree. While in Paris, she buys the royal crown and meets—and falls in love with—Caryl, each not knowing the other's royal identity.

Caryl's unethical brother Prince Michael comes to Paris, and prevents Victoria from revealing her identity to Caryl, who renounces his title to be with her. Michael kidnaps Victoria, but Caryl rescues her via an elaborate chase involving carriages, cars, and airplanes.<ref name="aficat">{{cite book|title=The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1921–1930|editor-last=Munden|editor-first=Kenneth W.|publisher=R.R. Bowker Company|location=New York|date=1971|oclc=664500075|page=[https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer/page/933 933]|isbn=978-0-520-21521-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanfilminst00amer|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name="movpicwor82movi">{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/movpicwor82movi|page=[https://archive.org/details/movpicwor82movi/page/n111 112]|date=September 11, 1926|magazine=Moving Picture World|title='Young April'—Prod. Dist. Corp.|last=Sewell|first=C.S.}}</ref><ref name="descriptivecatal05koda">{{cite book|date=1932|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/descriptivecatal05koda/page/203|pages=203–4|title=Descriptive Catalogue of Kodascope Library Motion Pictures|chapter=Class 8—Dramas|location=New York|publisher=Kodascope Libraries}}</ref>

==Cast== {{Cast listing| * Joseph Schildkraut as Prince Caryl * Rudolph Schildkraut as King Stefan * Bessie Love as Archduchess Victoria * Bryant Washburn as Prince Michael * Clarence Geldart as Krutchki * Alan Brooks as Jerry Lanningan * Dot Farley as Maggie * Carrie Daumery as Countess Morne * Joseph Belmont (billed as Baldy Beldmont) as Hans or Ivan<ref name="movpicwor82movi" /> * Jeanette Loff as extra (uncredited) * Clarence Wilson as flower vendor (uncredited) }}

==Release and reception== ''Young April'' had its New York premiere at the Hippodrome.<ref name="movpicwor82movi" /> The film, particularly the production, received positive reviews.<ref name="descriptivecatal05koda" />

== Censorship == Before ''Young April'' could be exhibited in Kansas, the Kansas Board of Review required the removal of several scenes. In reel 2, clothes strewn across a room, an undergarment draped on a painting, and a scene of a corset hanging from a staff with the intertitle "The flag of our fathers," are eliminated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kansas Board of Review Movie Index - Kansas Historical Society |url=https://www.kansashistory.gov/statearchives/archives_board_of_reviews/search/film:young%20april/company:/star:/elimination:/begyr:/endyr:/submit:SEARCH |access-date=2025-11-13 |website=www.kansashistory.gov}}</ref>

==Preservation and availability== Complete prints of ''Young April'' are held by: * Archives du Film du CNC * George Eastman Museum * Arhiva Națională de Filme * UCLA Film and Television Archive (on 16 mm) * Filmoteca de Catalunya<ref name="American Silent Feature Film Database">{{cite web |title=The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: ''Young April'' |url=https://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.159/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406210629/http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.159/ |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |access-date=April 6, 2024 |publisher=Library of Congress}}</ref>

The film was released on DVD in 2014 by Alpha Video.<ref name="silentera">{{cite web |url=https://www.silentera.com/video/youngAprilHV.html |title=Silent Era Films on Home Video: ''Young April'' |access-date=April 5, 2024 |publisher=silentera.com}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{IMDb title}} * {{AFI film|13527}} * {{TCMDb title}} * [https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150057134 ''Young April''] at the British Film Institute * [http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/young-april-original-1926-silent-138868152 Lobby cards] * [http://moviessilently.com/2015/12/27/young-april-1926-a-silent-film-review/ Stills and review] at moviessilently.com

Category:1926 films Category:1926 romantic comedy films Category:1926 American films Category:American black-and-white films Category:American silent feature films Category:Films based on British novels Category:Films directed by Donald Crisp Category:Films set in Europe Category:Films set in Paris Category:Producers Distributing Corporation films Category:American silent romantic comedy films Category:Surviving American silent films