Dinty (film)

Dinty
Theatrical poster of Dinty.
Directed by	Marshall Neilan (dir) John McDermott (dir) Tom Held (asst dir) George Dromgold
Produced by	Marshall Neilan
Written by	Marion Fairfax (Scen) Marshall Neilan (story)
Starring	Colleen Moore Wesley Barry Tom Gallery J. Barney Sherry Marjorie Daw
Country	United States
Language	Silent film(English intertitles) Colleen Moore, as Doreen O'Sullivan, on her way to America with the infant Dinty, from the motion picture Dinty.

Dinty is a 1920 silent drama featuring actress Colleen Moore. The film was written by Marshall Neilan specifically for Wesley Barry, a young actor known for his freckled complexion. In Wesley's previous film he played a character named "Dinty," a paperboy. The character was so popular that Neilan wrote the story around that character, fleshing out his background and giving him his own adventure.

Story

Colleen Moore in a still from the motion picture Dinty.

In a village in the Irish woods, young Doreen Adair (Colleen Moore) falls in love with a young man, Danny O'Sullivan (Tom Gallery). One day, Danny receives notice that he is offered a job in America. Before leaving, he marries Doreen. A year later, a son is born, and Doreen decides to follow her husband to America. Upon arriving in San Francisco from Ireland, Doreen discovers through Danny's landlady Mrs. O'Toole (Kate Price) that her husband has been killed in a car accident.

To support herself and her infant son Dinty, Doreen labors night shifts as a scrub woman until, at the age of twelve, Dinty (Wesley Barry) becomes the family's breadwinner by selling newspapers. Doreen, meanwhile, suffers from tuberculosis and gets weaker by the day.

Meanwhile, in Chinatown, wealthy opium smuggler Wong Tai kidnaps Judge Whitely's daughter in retribution for the judge's sentencing of Wong Tai's son to prison. Dinty, whose work as a newsboy has familiarized him with the Chinese underworld, leads the police to Wong Tai's hideout and saves the judge's daughter from a torturous death. To show his gratitude, Judge Whitely adopts Dinty, whose mother recently had succumbed to tuberculosis, and Dinty begins life anew.

Cast

• Wesley Barry - Dinty" O'Sullivan
• Colleen Moore - Doreen O'Sullivan
• Tom Gallery - Danny O'Sullivan
• J. Barney Sherry - Judge Whitely
• Marjorie Daw - Ruth Whitely
• Pat O'Malley - Jack North
• Noah Beery - Wong Tai
• Walter Chung - Sui Lung
• Kate Price - Mrs. O'Toole
• Tom Wilson - Barry Flynn
• Aaron Mitchell - Alexander Horatius Jones
• Newton Hall - The tough one
• Young Hipp - Wong Tai's son
• Hal Wilson

Background

The character of Dinty has a collection of friends of a variety of ethnicities. Among the young actors to play these parts was Anna May Wong in an uncredited part. Set in San Francisco, portions of the film were shot on location in the northern city, and many San Francisco streets and landmarks, including San Francisco City Hall can be seen.

Bibliography

• Jeff Codori (2012), Colleen Moore; A Biography of the Silent Film Star, McFarland Publishing,(Print ISBN: 978-0-7864-4969-9, EBook ISBN: 978-0-7864-8899-5).

References

• Colleen Moore research/history project page

External links

• Entry in American Film Institute catalogue
• Dinty (film) at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/D/Dinty1920.html