The White Mask - Production & Contact Info

The White Mask (1915)
Short | Drama, Short

The White Mask (1915)

Short | Drama, Short

The Duchess and Duke of Granville are social leaders of Brussels and favorites at the Court of King Leopold. The Duke, however, pays more attention to great speculative enterprises than court functions, and leaves the Duchess to her own ...See moreThe Duchess and Duke of Granville are social leaders of Brussels and favorites at the Court of King Leopold. The Duke, however, pays more attention to great speculative enterprises than court functions, and leaves the Duchess to her own sweet will as far as amusements and admirers are concerned, and she has many of both. Aside from the King himself, her most ardent admirer is Prince Nordoff. a Russian adventurer, and his attentions become so distasteful to her that she is compelled to rebuke him in the presence of a large company, thereby incurring his secret enmity. One night a grand reception is given at the Palace of the Duchess, and, among other entertainments, the Duchess creates a sensation by giving a dance of great beauty and abandon, which creates the impression among her titled guests. While the festivities are at their height, the Duke is going over the accounts of his wildest financial enterprise, finds himself suddenly made bankrupt, and is taken home, where the splendid entertainment is brought to a sudden termination by the news that he is lying at the point of death. Left a widow, the Duchess finds herself penniless, with an idolized son, Victor, whom she determines shall be reared in affluence. Accordingly, she places him in a school, presents herself for trial before a noted theatrical manager, and soon becomes the most famous dancer in Europe, under the title of "The White Mask." This sobriquet grew out of the fact that, not wishing to make public property of such a noble title as that of her dead husband, her performances have always been given with her face concealed behind a white mask, and not even her manager has the slightest notion of her identity. Attracting the attention of King Leopold, she is showered with many gifts from him, and is even honored by a banquet at the Regal Palace, where many notables pay her court. During the progress of the feast the King asks her to grant him the honor of permitting him to see her face, and she consents on condition that the disclosure shall be made only to him. As they withdraw from the table, the other guests, quite as anxious as his Majesty to learn who "The White Mask" can he, prevail upon Nordoff, who is present, to act as a spy upon the King and his noted guest, so that they, too, may be let into the secret. When he returns, however, he is compelled to announce that it was impossible for him to see the face of the dancer as she lifted her mask for Leopold. But at the close of the banquet, as she was stepping into her carriage, he impertinently tore the mask from her face, for which act the indignant lady slapped him with her fan and reported him to the King. The next day the newspapers were full of glaring headlines announcing the identity of "The White Mask," but from that day she never appeared in public again, and disappeared from Europe. Fifteen years elapse, and we find the former Duchess of Granville living in splendor in New York, as Mrs. Dean, a notable woman financier and leader of society. Her son, Victor, fresh from college and supplied with an abundant fortune, has become betrothed to Frances, only daughter of millionaire Blake, and his mother has given her hand to John Emerson, a well-known and very wealthy capitalist and promoter. Nordoff and an associate named Von Stader have come to America to float a rubber enterprise in the United States, and have letters of recommendation to John Emerson. Before these letters are presented, however, the two men encounter Emerson and Mrs. Dean at the jeweler's, and at once recognize her. Von Stader insists that they both keep her secret inviolate, but Nordoff decides to apply it as one of the levers to secure the confidence of Emerson. Nordoff has won the friendship of the dashing widow Bryce, whom he finds most valuable as an assistant in perfecting his financial plan, for she has once been betrothed to Emerson, and is only too willing to approve any plan that may successfully blackmail Mrs. Dean. At a reception given by Mrs. Dean to celebrate the coming union of four great fortunes, the first steps are taken toward the perfecting of their nefarious enterprise. Fearful of what the consequences of the disclosure of her true identity may be, Mrs. Dean permits herself to be morally blackmailed by the villainous Nordoff, and promises to advise Emerson to enter the financial schemes brought to America by him and Von Stader. But woman's jealousy thwarts the plans of the conspirators, for Mrs. Bryce is seen so much with Emerson during the evening that she excites the jealousy of Mrs. Dean, is called to account, and calls the guests together to inform them of an impostor sailing under false colors when Nordoff prevents her and takes her from the house. Nordoff is refused admittance to the Dean home, and word is sent to him to do his worst, since Mrs. Dean has decided not to carry out her bargain with him. Nordoff and Mrs. Bryce repair to Emerson's office and tell him the story of "The White Mask," without telling who she had been before assuming that title. Emerson breaks his engagement with Mrs. Dean and tells her that he has resumed his severed engagement with Mrs. Bryce. The letter arrives when Mrs. Dean and Victor are together, and the impetuous youth rushes from the house to Emerson's residence, followed by his mother. The son arrives there before his mother, has a stormy interview with Emerson, who is about to strike Victor when he seizes a dagger paper knife from the table, defends himself with it, and in the struggle to wrest it from the boy, the two fall to the ground and Emerson receives the weapon in his heart. At the critical moment the mother arrives, finds Emerson dead, and hurries with Victor back to her now broken home. In an impassioned interview with him. she shows him that he must not sever the tie between him and the girl he loves, and must permit his mother to stand trial for the killing of Emerson. The thought is at once spurned by Victor, when his mother compels compliance by producing a vial of poison and swearing to kill herself. On the following day she is arrested for the crime. During all of the trial the heart-wracked son cannot speak because of his mother's threat, and his one comfort is his fiancée, Frances, who, in spite of the commands of her parents, leaves her home and clings to mother and son during the fearful ordeal. All of the evidence, save alone that of Von Stader, who tells the story of her heroic past, is against her, and the verdict is guilty. Then it is that the son can no longer be silent, and immediately upon the pronouncement of the word "Guilty," he avers his own guilt, and his heart-broken mother falls to the floor and is carried to an adjoining room, where she passes away just as Victor is being led to prison. During the progress of the trial, the associates of the dead man Emerson discover that the business scheme of Nordoff is a fraud, and he and Von Stader are summoned before them. Nordoff refuses to make a single move toward reparation, but Von Stader. who learns for the first time of the perfidy of his associate, surrenders his entire fortune to preserve his hitherto unblemished reputation. On the day of Mrs. Dean's death, Von Stader purchases a pair of handcuffs, and going to Nordoff's room, binds and gags him so that he may not escape and goes to report his case to the police. As he passes down the stairs he discovers that the hotel has caught fire through the explosion of a boiler. His first impulse is to save Nordoff. but, believing that this is the retribution selected by Heaven, he proceeds to the street and coolly watches the hotel burn to the ground. In due time Victor is tried and summarily acquitted. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
16 cast members

Name	Known for
Lila Leslie Yvonne aka Mrs. Dean aka The Duchess of Granville (as Lillie Leslie) Yvonne aka Mrs. Dean aka The Duchess of Granville (as Lillie Leslie) See fewer	What's to Do? (1933)
Raymond Hackett Victor - Age 8 Victor - Age 8 See fewer	The Trial of Mary Dugan (1929)
William W. Cohill Victor - Age 23 Victor - Age 23 See fewer	Life Without Soul (1915)
Herbert Fortier The Duke of Granville The Duke of Granville See fewer	A Woman Went Forth (1915)
Gilbert Ely King Leopold of Belgium King Leopold of Belgium See fewer	The Road o' Strife (1915)
Joseph W. Smiley Prince Nordoff (as Joseph Smiley) Prince Nordoff (as Joseph Smiley) See fewer	Life Without Soul (1915)
John Smiley Baron von Stader Baron von Stader See fewer	The Battle of Shiloh (1913)
Jack Delson Clerk to Granville Clerk to Granville See fewer	A Woman Went Forth (1915)
George S. Trimble Isaac Mayer - Theatrical Manager Isaac Mayer - Theatrical Manager See fewer	Michael Strogoff (1914)
Arthur Matthews H. Blenham - Theatrical Manager H. Blenham - Theatrical Manager See fewer	Ignorance (1916)
Florence Hackett Mrs. Brice Mrs. Brice See fewer	The Beloved Adventurer (1914)
Walter Law John Emerson John Emerson See fewer	Camille (1917)
James Cassady Joseph Blake Joseph Blake See fewer	The Road o' Strife (1915)
Eleanor Blanchard Mrs. Blake Mrs. Blake See fewer	Life's Whirlpool (1916)
Justina Huff Frances Frances See fewer	Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1913)
Richard Wangermann Principal of the School Principal of the School See fewer	The Scarlet Runner (1916)