The House of Mirth (1918 film)

The House of Mirth received much acclaim, especially for its characters and scene arrangement. Margaret I. MacDonald acclaimed in her review that the novel "makes an attractive basis for a screen production" and has been skillfully adapted by Director Albert Capellani and screenwriter June Mathis, with Katherine Harris Barrymore as the star, while the director "without unduly accentuating unpleasant situations ... has succeeded well in turning the finer points of the story to account, and Katherine Harris Barrymore has given a splendid portrayal of a character which, regardless of its human tendency to err. upholds the dignity of moral womanhood."^[8]

The Film Daily reviewed that the director Albert Capellani "is certainly deserving of much credit for the intelligent way he has handled this offering. Despite the unusual number of complications and the large cast involved, he has made the production understandable and interesting all the way, at the same time maintaining the suspense and giving us many good individual touches throughout. They had a great cast in this, and although the names may not be a real box office asset to theatres outside of New York, every role bore the unmistakable touch of an artist and Metro is justified in terming this an all-star cast."^[7]

Like many American films of the time, The House of Mirth was subject to restrictions and cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required cuts, in Reel 1, of the woman in silhouette behind veil, Reel 3, the intertitle "You know how you can repay me", Reel 4, the two intertitles "You're willing enough to take favors" etc. and "Now I want value received", and, Reel 6, the two intertitles "Now that society has accepted me, of course, I cannot marry you" and "If you only will be sensible".^[9]

Some criticisms, nevertheless, still existed. The Motion Picture News^[10] pointed that " The allegory at the beginning and the end of the picture showing an old man weighing virtue with gold, with a human skull on the table, is not very pleasant. It adds very little to the dramatic values and subtracts manyfold from the entertaining. Such scenes have no popular appeal." However, these criticisms were never able to devalue the film.

• The House of Mirth at IMDb
• The House of Mirth at the TCM Movie Database (archived version)
• The House of Mirth at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films