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Joan the Woman
Joan the Woman
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Cecil B. DeMille
Written by	Jeanie MacPherson
Produced by	Jesse L. Lasky; Cecil B. DeMille
Starring	Geraldine Farrar
Cinematography	Alvin Wyckoff
Edited by	Cecil B. DeMille
Music by	William Furst
Production; companies	Cardinal Film Corporation; Famous Players–Lasky Corporation
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	December 25, 1916 (New York City premiere);
Running time	138 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)
Budget	$302,976
Box office	$605,731

Joan the Woman is a 1916 American epic silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc. The film premiered on Christmas Day in 1916. This was DeMille's first historical drama. The screenplay is based on Friedrich Schiller's 1801 play Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans).^[3] This film was considered to be the "first cinematic spectacle about Joan of Arc."^[3]

Miss Farrar ranked her performance in Joan the Woman among the great achievements of her entire career.^[4]

Plot

A British officer (Reid) in World War I has a dream of the life of Joan of Arc (Farrar). The officer pulls a sword out of the wall of the trench he is in, the sword used to belong to Joan of Arc. Removing the sword conjures up the ghost of Joan, leading to her telling her story. The setting then changes to France where the story of Joan of Arc is told, of her leading the French troops to victory and her subsequent burning at the stake. The story ends back in the trench with the officer deciding to go on a suicide mission, using Joan's story and sword as inspiration.^[5]

Cast

Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc

Geraldine Farrar as Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc)
Raymond Hatton as Charles VII
Hobart Bosworth as Gen. La Hire
Theodore Roberts as Cauchon
Wallace Reid as Eric Trent 1431 / Eric Trent 1917
Charles Clary as La Tremouille
James Neill as Laxart
Tully Marshall as L'Oiseleur
Lawrence Peyton as Gaspard
Horace B. Carpenter as Jacques d'Arc
Cleo Ridgely as The king's favorite
Lillian Leighton as Isambeau
Marjorie Daw as Katherine
Stephen Gray as Pierre
Ernest Joy as Robert de Beaudricourt
John Oaker as Jean de Metz
Hugo B. Koch as Duke of Burgundy
William Conklin as John of Luxembourg
Walter Long as The executioner
William Elmer as Guy Townes
Emilius Jorgensen as Michael
Donald Crisp
Jack Hoxie
Lucien Littlefield
Nigel De Brulier as Man at trial (uncredited)
Jack Holt (uncredited)
Fred Kohler as L'Oiseleur's henchman (uncredited)
Ramón Novarro as Starving Peasant (uncredited)

Production

The original plan for Joan the Woman was for it to be the first of two shorter, unrelated films starring Farrar and directed by DeMille. However, in the early stages of filming in May 1916, producer Jesse L. Lansky convinced DeMille to combine the two efforts into a single, longer film about Joan of Arc.^[6]

This was the first film to use the Handschiegl Color Process (billed as the "Wyckoff-DeMille Process") for certain scenes. This process is especially noticeable in the scene of Joan burning at the stake, the use of red and yellow gave this a heightened dramatic effect. DeMille has said that in the weeks before shooting he became obsessed with historical research, costume and set design, and casting decisions.^[7]

Box Office

The film was released on December 25, 1916 and grossed $605,731 at the box office.

The success of Joan the Woman encouraged producer Jesse Lasky and DeMille to feature Farrar in another spectacle, The Woman God Forgot (1917), an epic set during the Aztec Empire.^[8]

Retrospective appraisal

The film has been criticized by some as propaganda for World War I. The film begins and ends with the story of a British officer in the trenches fighting in World War I. He is prompted with the decision to participate in a suicide mission. He discovers a sword that belonged to Joan, and after hearing her story, decides to go on the mission. Film historian Robin Blaetz in her book Studies in Medievalism points out the sexism that exists in the film. While Joan was the inspiration for the British soldier's heroic acts, he is ultimately the hero at the end of the film.^[5] Blaetz points out that this sends the message that "women and war do not mix", alluding to the idea that in World War I women should stay behind the front lines, but still be supportive of those at war.

In his review of the film, Leonard Maltin said this was "DeMille's first historical epic is nicely mounted, spotlighting the heroism and sacrifice of Joan of Arc (a miscast Farrar) as she evolves from peasant girl to saint-like figure and becomes involved with Englishman Reid. Fashioned as an accolade to France, with the story bookended by sequences set during WW1 involving a soldier who is inspired by Joan's bravery. Some of the effects are in color."^[9]

Attempted film piracy

First 50 minutes of Joan the Woman

In 1917 three men were arrested for the theft of a print of the film from a New York film exchange, which they took to New Jersey for the making of a new master negative. Both the missing print and the master were recovered. At that time there was an active criminal practice in making master negatives of American films for shipment to other countries for the production of new prints,^[10] an early example of motion picture piracy.

Preservation

Complete prints of Joan the Woman are held by:

Archives du Film du CNC on 35 mm film
George Eastman Museum on 35 mm film^[11]
Academy Film Archive
British Film Institute^[12]

Notes

^ ^a ^b Birchard, Robert (2009). Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood. University Press of Kentucky. p. 90. ISBN 9780813123240.
^ "De Mille's Costs-Gross". Variety. March 21, 1928. p. 5. Retrieved March 20, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Aberth, John. "Chapter 6. Movies and the Maid: Joan of Arc Films". A Knight at the Movies. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2012. 264–306.
^ Wagenknecht, 1962 p. 170-171: “...the only one of her films she ranks with her great achievements…”
^ ^a ^b Verduin, Kathleen. Studies in Medievalism: Medievalism in North America. Pages 109-122
^ Manning, Scott (2022). "Joan of Arc's Gunpowder Artillery: in Cecil B. DeMille's Joan the Woman (1916)". Film & History. 52 (1): 20–21. doi:10.1353/flm.2022.0010. ISSN 1548-9922. S2CID 251576832.
^ "Cecil B. DeMille and American Culture". Retrieved October 27, 2014.
^ Wagenknecht, 1962 p. 171: “Joan the Woman was deMille’s first great spectacle, but he almost equaled it in this aspect with The Woman God Forgot (1917), an Aztec story in which Miss Farrar appeared in the fall of 1917.”
^ "Joan the Woman (1916) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved October 27, 2014.
^ "Beck, Singer and Weiss, Charged in "Joan" Theft, Are Held in New York: Famous Players–Lasky Corporation Accuse Three Man Now Held for Grand Jury Hearing on $2,000 Bail; Print and Negative Recovered". Exhibitors Herald. 5 (6). New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company: 44. August 4, 1917. Retrieved November 26, 2014.
^ "Progressive Silent Film List: Joan the Woman". silentera.com. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
^ "American Silent Feature Film Database: Joan the Woman". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 30, 2024.