The Only Thing

1925 film by Jack Conway

November 22, 1925 (1925-11-22)

Running time

6 reelsCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

The Only Thing (also known under its working title Four Flaming Days) is a 1925 American silent romantic drama film starring Eleanor Boardman. The film's scenario was written by author Elinor Glyn (who also oversaw the film's production), and was based on a story adapted from Glyn's novel of the same name.^[1]

It was the first film Jack Conway directed for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer where he remained for until his retirement in 1948.^[2] The film is also notable for featuring a young Joan Crawford in her eighth film role playing a minor part as a lady in waiting.^[3]

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine,^[4] a handsome and titled Englishman visits a Balkan kingdom and falls madly in love with a young princess who has come to marry the elderly, grouchy, and ugly king. He determines to save her even against her will and so daring and ardent is his lovemaking that she is about to consent when she determines that duty to the state comes first. A revolution occurs and the hero, when he finds that death has been decreed for all aristocrats, who are tied in pairs and send out to drown in leaky barges, contrives to be paired with her. A warship sent by her country saves them and they find happiness together.

Cast

Eleanor Boardman as Thyra, Princess of Svendborg
Conrad Nagel as Duke of Chevenix
Edward Connelly as King of Chekia
Arthur Edmund Carewe as Gigberto
Louis Payne as Lord Charles Vane
Vera Lewis as Princess Erek
Carrie Clark Ward as Princess Anne
Constance Wylie as Countess Arline
Dale Fuller as Governess
Ned Sparks as Gibson
Mario Carillo as Prime Minister
David Mir as Kaylkur
Mary Hawes as Thyra's Maid
Michael Pleschkoff as Captain of the Guards
Joan Crawford as Party Guest (uncredited)
Tom Tyler as Party Guest (uncredited)

Preservation

A complete print of The Only Thing is held in the George Eastman Museum Motion Picture Collection.^[5]

References

^ Progressive Silent Film List The Only Thing at silentera.com
^ Eames, John Douglas (1975). The MGM Story: The Complete History Of Fifty Roaring Years (3 ed.). Octopus Books. pp. 21, 117. ISBN 0-904230-14-7.
^ Quirk, Lawrence J.; Schoell, William (2013). Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography. University Press of Kentucky. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-8131-4411-5.
^ Sewell, Charles S. (December 5, 1925). "Through the Box Office Window: The Only Thing; Eleanor Boardman and Conrad Nagel in Colorful and Pleasing Elinor Glyn Story of Ardent Love". The Moving Picture World. 77 (5). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 483. Retrieved October 19, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: The Only Thing