The Private Life of Helen of Troy (1927)

The Private Life of Helen of Troy is a 1927 American silent film about Helen of Troy based on a novel by John Erskine and adapted to screen by Gerald C. Duffy. The film was directed by Alexander Korda and starred María Corda as Helen, Lewis Stone as Menelaus, and Ricardo Cortez as Paris.

Coming at the end of the silent film era, it received the honor of being nominated for an Academy Award in 1929, the year of the Awards' inception, in the category of Best Title Writing. However, Gerald Duffy died on 25 June 1928, and he has the distinction of being the first person to be posthumously nominated for an Academy Award.

That same year, the first "talkie", The Jazz Singer, received an honorary award for introducing sound to film, and the category for which The Private Life of Helen of Troy was nominated was dropped by the second Academy Awards.

Two sections from the beginning and end, running about 27–30 minutes in total, are reportedly all that survive of The Private Life of Helen of Troy; they are preserved by the British Film Institute.

Synopsis

Hélène, reine de Sparte, s'ennuie, son mari Ménélas lui montrant peu d'intérêt. Elle s'enfuit à Troie avec Pâris. Ménélas déclare alors la guerre à Troie. Après la victoire, Hélène revient à Sparte. La coutume voudrait que son mari la tue lui-même, mais son charme opère et il la laisse en vie. Toutefois il ne s'occupe pas plus d'elle qu'auparavant et Hélène flirte avec le prince d'Ithaque.

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