The Sporting Venus is a 1925 American silentromantic drama film directed by Marshall Neilan.[1] The film was the second MGM release of Neilan, and starred his wife, actress Blanche Sweet,[2] who allegedly sported the lowest waistline of 1925. This is the first of two feature films that paired Ronald Colman with Blanche Sweet, the second being His Supreme Moment, which was released in May 1925.[3]
Plot
The Sporting Venus (1925)
As described in a film magazine review,[4] Scotch heiress Lady Gwendolyn is in love with a commoner, medical student Donald MacAllan, but the match is disapproved by her father. A misunderstanding develops and she has romance with the continental Prince Carlos, a nobleman who pretends to be wealthy. In an attempt to forget her unhappiness, she seeks diversion in famous watering places and other climes. Eventually she learns the true character of the nobleman and effects a reconciliation with Donald.
Life Magazine wrote "The Sporting Venus is typical of Neilan at his worst and at his best. It is foolish, inconsequential and spineless, and yet it is entertaining. ... If you look for rhyme or reason in The Sporting Venus, you will look in vain."[5]
Preservation
A complete copy of the film survives in MGM's archives.[6][7]
^Ann Lloyd; Graham Fuller; Arnold Desser (1983). Ann Lloyd; Graham Fuller (eds.). The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema (illustrated ed.). Orbis. p. 425. ISBN9780856135217.
