Anna Christie

Anna Christie is a 1923 American silent drama film based on the 1921 play by Eugene O'Neill (first film version) and starring Blanche Sweet and William Russell.

Directed by John Griffith Wray and produced by Thomas H. Ince for First National Pictures, the screenplay was adapted by Bradley King from the Eugene O'Neill play of the same title.[2][3][4] Thomas H. Ince Inc. paid a then-astronomical $35,000 for the screen rights to the play.[1]

As described in a film magazine review,[5] Anna Christie, daughter of rugged coal barge captain Chris Christopherson, has not seen her father since she was a baby. During her life on a farm, she has been betrayed by one man and been the mistress of another. Her father, unaware of her past, is determined to protect her from the advances of sailor folk. She takes a voyage with him and falls in love with drunken Matt Burke. She admits her sins and is rescued from suicide by Chris. She is forgiven by Matt who still wishes to wed her.

Prints of Anna Christie are located in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection, Gosfilmofond in Moscow, Cineteca Del Friuli in Genoma, Italy, and Harvard Film Archive.[6]