Grand Passion (1918)
Directed by Ida May Park
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
By the mid-1920s, both Lon Chaney Sr. and Jack Mulhall were major film stars in their own right. Back in 1918, however, both men were still providing support to such lesser lights as Dorothy Phillips, a Lillian Gish look-alike. In The Grand Passion, Phillips plays a newcomer in Powderville, one of the many "mushroom towns" which sprang up during the early months of WWI for the purpose of war-product manufacturing. Here, the heroine finds herself torn between handsome factory worker Mulhall, and the less-handsome but more aggressive town boss Chaney. Adapted from a popular novel, The Grand Passion had timeliness on its side, if nothing else.