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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 762

The Dumb Girl of Portici

1916112 minUnited States
Drama
Video edition
Wikimedia Commons
Original language
No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: English.
This copy runs
114:43
Subtitles
No subtitle track in this language

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · Phillips Smalley / Lois Weber · Public domain

Synopsis

Fenella, a young woman who cannot speak, falls in love with a nobleman during Spanish rule in Naples. His abandonment and the treatment she receives from those in power draw her suffering into a wider conflict. A popular uprising changes the city around her, but does not make the dangers created by class and political authority disappear.

Cast

DirectorsPhillips SmalleyLois Weber

Inspirations

Lois Weber's adaptation draws on the libretto of Daniel Auber's opera La muette de Portici. The historical uprising and the heroine's personal betrayal become parallel parts of the drama.

Behind the scenes

Ballet star Anna Pavlova made her only feature-film appearance as Fenella. Weber and Phillips Smalley combine the performance with large sets, crowds and sequences of political violence.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film referenceWikidata — film identity and creditsBFI — The Dumb Girl of PorticiThe Criterion Channel — The Dumb Girl of Portici

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 12, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

  • Anna Pavlova — Photography studio of the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre. St. Petersburg, Russian Empire.; I, MrLopez2681 , obtained the photo from a seller via ebay.com ( https://bidspirit-images.global.ssl.fastly.net/artmaximum/cloned-images/132007/005/a_ignore_q_80_w_1000_c_limit_005.jpg ) · Public domain
  • Rupert Julian — De Gaston; J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs · Public domain

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