Film

The Moment Before

1916 · 1h 30m · Drama

The film begins by presenting the elderly and elegant Duke and Duchess of Maldon, engaged in charitable acts in a Dickensian village. The following day, the duke falls off his horse and is mortally injured. Mourning the loss of her great love, the duchess collapses in church, and in the “moment before death” she reviews her own life. “It was in her youth that she had fractured practically all the Biblical commandments,” says the intertitle. In fact, when she was young, Madge the duchess was a seductive gypsy, engaged to the fiery gypsy John, but fascinated by Harold, the idle aristocratic son of the Maldons, who was prone to the family vice of excessive drinking. In love with the gypsy, Harold brings her home as a servant, scandalizing his older brother. A fight between the brothers and John’s jealousy lead to a fatal accident that forces both Harold and the gypsy couple to flee to Australia.

Pauline Frederick

Madge, the Duchess of Maldon

Thomas Holding

Harold, the Duke of Maldon

Frank Losee

the elder Duke of Maldon

Jack W. Johnston

Eddie Sturgis

• Robert G. VignolaDirector
• Hugh FordScreenplay

Release date

April 27, 1916

Status

Released

Original language

English

Runtime

1h 30m

Genres

Drama