A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921 film)

1921 film Not to be confused with other films based on A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Theatrical poster featuring star Harry Myers with the spirit of Mark Twain peering over his shoulder
Directed by	Emmett J. Flynn
Written by	Bernard McConville
Based on	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court 1889 novel by Mark Twain
Produced by	William Fox
Starring	Harry Myers Pauline Starke Rosemary Theby George Siegmann
Cinematography	Lucien Andriot
Edited by	C.R. Wallace
Distributed by	Fox Film
Release date	March 14, 1921 (1921-03-14)
Running time	80+ minutes 8 reels (8,291 feet)
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is a 1921 American silent film adaptation of Mark Twain's 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. The film was produced by the Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) and directed by Emmett J. Flynn based on a screenplay by Bernard McConville. It is notable as the first film adaptation of Twain's novel and as the second film about time travel to the past (after The Ghost of Slumber Mountain).

The film stars Harry Myers as the titular Yankee Martin Cavendish. After reading Twain's novel, Cavendish dreams that he, like Twain's protagonist Henry Morgan, is transported back to the time of King Arthur (Charles Clary), where he must use modern know-how to outwit the king's foes Morgan le Fay (Rosemary Theby) and Merlin (William V. Mong). The screenplay modernizes the novel with many contemporary references, including mentions of Ford Model Ts, the Volstead Act, and the Battle of the Argonne Forest. The film was popular, and its success likely encouraged Fox to produce the later sound film adaptation of the novel, A Connecticut Yankee. According to author Barbara Leaming, the film's hanging scene inspired Tom Hepburn, brother of Katharine Hepburn, to commit suicide in 1921.

The film is incomplete in the Library of Congress, and only reels 2, 4 and 7 survive.

Plot

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Cast

Harry Myers as Martin Cavendish (as Harry C. Myers)
Pauline Starke as Sandy
Rosemary Theby as Queen Morgan le Fay
Charles Clary as King Arthur
William V. Mong as Merlin the Magician
George Siegmann as Sir Sagramore
Charles Gordon as Clarence, the Page
Karl Formes as Mark Twain
Herbert Fortier as Mr. Cavendish
Adele Farrington as Mrs. Cavendish
Wilfred McDonald as Sir Lancelot

Reception

The film was the seventh-biggest hit of 1922 in the US and Canada.

References

^ Grellner, Alice; and Harty, Kevin J. (1991). "Films". In Norris J. Lacy, The New Arthurian Encyclopedia, p. 152. (New York: Garland, 1991). ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.
The American Film Catalog Feature Films: 1921-30 by The American Film I
Leaming, Barbara. Katharine Hepburn. (1992). p. 191-203
- The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court at TheGreatStars.com; Lost Films Wanted(Wayback Machine)
"A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court". silentera.com.
Variety list of box office champions for 1922

Lacy, Norris J. (1991). The New Arthurian Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-4377-4.

External links

v t e Films directed by Emmett J. Flynn
Alimony (1917) The Racing Strain (1918) Eastward Ho! (1919) The Bondage of Barbara (1919) Virtuous Sinners (1919) A Bachelor's Wife (1919) Yvonne from Paris (1919) The Lincoln Highwayman (1919) The Valley of Tomorrow (1920) Shod with Fire (1920) Leave It to Me (1920) The Untamed (1920) The Man Who Dared (1920) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921) Shame (1921) The Last Trail (1921) A Fool There Was (1922) Monte Cristo (1922) Without Compromise (1922) Hell's Hole (1923) In the Palace of the King (1923) Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model (1924) The Man Who Came Back (1924) Gerald Cranston's Lady (1924) The Dancers (1925) Wings of Youth (1925) East Lynne (1925) The Yankee Señor (1926) The Palace of Pleasure (1926) Yellow Fingers (1926) Married Alive (1927) Early to Bed (1928) The Veiled Woman (1929) Hold Your Man (1929) The Shannons of Broadway (1929)

Films directed by Emmett J. Flynn

Alimony (1917)
The Racing Strain (1918)
Eastward Ho! (1919)
The Bondage of Barbara (1919)
Virtuous Sinners (1919)
A Bachelor's Wife (1919)
Yvonne from Paris (1919)
The Lincoln Highwayman (1919)
The Valley of Tomorrow (1920)
Shod with Fire (1920)
Leave It to Me (1920)
The Untamed (1920)
The Man Who Dared (1920)
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921)
Shame (1921)
The Last Trail (1921)
A Fool There Was (1922)
Monte Cristo (1922)
Without Compromise (1922)
Hell's Hole (1923)
In the Palace of the King (1923)
Nellie, the Beautiful Cloak Model (1924)
The Man Who Came Back (1924)
Gerald Cranston's Lady (1924)
The Dancers (1925)
Wings of Youth (1925)
East Lynne (1925)
The Yankee Señor (1926)
The Palace of Pleasure (1926)
Yellow Fingers (1926)
Married Alive (1927)
Early to Bed (1928)
The Veiled Woman (1929)
Hold Your Man (1929)
The Shannons of Broadway (1929)

v t e Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Films	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921 silent) A Connecticut Yankee (1931) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) Knight-mare Hare (1955) Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979) New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1988) A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995) A Knight in Camelot (1998)
Musical	A Connecticut Yankee "To Keep My Love Alive" "Thou Swell" "My Heart Stood Still"
Other	"The Once and Future Duck"

v t e Films based on Arthurian legends
Medieval Arthur	The Adventures of Sir Galahad (serial, 1949) Knights of the Round Table (1953) The Black Knight (1954) Lancelot and Guinevere (1963) Siege of the Saxons (1963) Camelot (1967) Excalibur (1981) First Knight (1995) Arthur and Merlin (2015) King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Pearl Poet	Gawain and the Green Knight (1973) Sword of the Valiant (1984) The Green Knight (2021)
Roman Arthur	King Arthur (2004) The Last Legion (2007)
Foreign adaptations	Lancelot du Lac (1974) Perceval le Gallois (1978) Kaamelott: The First Chapter (2021)
Films based on Wagner's Parsifal	Parsifal (1904) The Evil Forest (1951) Parsifal (1982)
Films from Twain's Connecticut Yankee	A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1921) A Connecticut Yankee (1931) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1949) Unidentified Flying Oddball (1979) New Adventures of a Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1988; Soviet Union) A Kid in King Arthur's Court (1995)
Based on the Tristan legend	L'Éternel retour (1943) The Woman Next Door (1981) Lovespell (1981) Fire and Sword (1982) In the Shadow of the Raven (1988) Tristan & Isolde (English 2006)
Adaptations of Prince Valiant	Prince Valiant (1954) Prince Valiant (1997)
Parodies and modern adaptations	Knights of the Square Table (1917) King Arthur Was a Gentleman (1942) Squareheads of the Round Table (1948) Knutzy Knights (1954) Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) Knightriders (1981) The Fisher King (1991) Seaview Knights (1994) Kids of the Round Table (1995) Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1996) The Mighty (1998) Merlin: The Return (2000) The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2002) Merlin and the War of the Dragons (2008) The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010) Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) The Kid Who Would Be King (2019)
Animation	Knight-mare Hare (1955) Knighty Knight Bugs (1958) The Sword in the Stone (1963) Willy McBean and his Magic Machine (1965) Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw (1988) Merlin and the Dragons (1991) Quest for Camelot (1998) Shrek the Third (2007) Scooby-Doo! The Sword and the Scoob (2021)
TV films	Merlin and the Sword (1985) Guinevere (1994) The Four Diamonds (1995) Merlin: The Quest Begins (1998) A Knight in Camelot (1998) The Excalibur Kid (1999) Young Arthur (2002) Avalon High (2010)

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