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A holy man commits identity fraud for Jesus and accidentally becomes a socialist icon. 1920 was WILD.
TMDB
70
IMDb
60

Build Thy House (1920)

morally flexible clergyaccidental activismslum noir

Overview

Drama

A padre, acting for a dying soldier, poses as the heir to a slum property and becomes a Labour MP.

Flag of GBGB
Content warning
life in the slumspoliticianlost filmheirs

Standout Aspects

Acting

Henry Ainley's holy-fraud energy without spoken dialogue

Production

Authentic slum locations now lost to history

Best for:Solo: Quiet night pretending you're a 1920s film archivist·Rewatch: If you somehow find a surviving print, treasure it
Heads up:Emotional: Dying soldier plotline plus poverty despair
F

Director

Fred Goodwins

ReleasedOct 1, 1920
Runtime50m
StatusReleased

Vibe

Pacesteady
Intensitymedium
Tonemixed
Feelheavy
Ideal Films

Top Cast

Henry Ainley

Henry Ainley

Arthur Burnaby

Ann Trevor

Ann Trevor

Helen Dawson

Warwick Ward

Warwick Ward

Burnaby

Jerrold Robertshaw

Jerrold Robertshaw

John Dawson

Claude Rains

Claude Rains

Clarkis

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Deep Dive

Trivia, insights & behind the scenes

Trivia

This film is considered lost — no known prints survive, so we're all theorizing based on a 1920 trade review.

Cultural

Released right after WWI, the 'dying soldier' hook hit different when half your audience had actually lost someone.

Reviews

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