The Wicked Darling

The Wicked Darling is a 1919 American silent crime film directed by Tod Browning, and starring Priscilla Dean, Wellington A. Playter and Lon Chaney as pickpocket "Stoop" Connors.[1] This was the first time Lon Chaney appeared in a Tod Browning film, and many other collaborations between the two men would follow.

The film was considered to be a lost film until a copy (with Dutch intertitles) was found in Europe in the 1990s. It was shown at a Tod Browning film festival in Europe in 1996. The copy now resides in the Nederlands Filmmuseum.[2] The print is complete but suffers noticeable decomposition in two separate key scenes.[2] The Wicked Darling was released on DVD (with translated English intertitles) in September, 2005 along with Victory, another early Lon Chaney film appearance. A still exists showing Lon Chaney in the role of sleazy Stoop Connors, as he and a compatriot are about to kidnap the heroine.[3]

The screenplay was written by Harvey Gates, based on a story idea by Evelyn Campbell. Some references state that Waldemar Young also worked on the screenplay, but that appears untrue. Chaney historian Jon C. Mirsalis says that Young was originally chosen to write the screenplay, but the writing chores later went to Harvey Gates instead. The film was in production from December 7, 1918 through early January, 1919. Chaney later co-starred in two other films with Priscilla Dean, Paid in Advance and Outside The Law.[4] [5]