A grumpy old lawyer, a stolen diamond, and a gardenia—1923's sassiest detective didn't need sound to throw shade.
Andrew Bullivant, a retired lawyer known as "Grumpy" for his irascibility, calls on all his experience and powers of deduction to expose Chamberlin Jarvis as the thief of a valuable diamond being transported by Ernest Heron. A gardenia is the clue; and Virginia Bullivant, Ernest's sweetheart, is Jarvis' unwitting dupe.
Acting
Theodore Roberts' entire face is a mood—eyebrows do the dialogue.
Direction
William C. deMille crafts tension without a single spoken word.
Director
William C. deMille
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was adapted from a 1913 stage play so popular it spawned two silent film versions—this 1923 remake and a lost 1915 original.
William C. deMille was Cecil B. DeMille's less famous but arguably more restrained brother; this film shows his preference for intimate character studies over biblical epics.
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