The Woman Disputed

The Woman Disputed
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Henry King, Sam Taylor
Written by	C. Gardner Sullivan
Produced by	Joseph M. Schenck Productions
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	September 1928 (1928-09)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Sound film (Synchronized)

The Woman Disputed is a 1928 American synchronized sound film. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The plot draws in part on the 1880 short story "Boule de Suif" by French writer Guy de Maupassant.

Norma Talmadge stars as a good-hearted Austrian prostitute drawn into a romantic triangle on the eve of World War I. Based on a Denison Clift play, the nationalities of the characters had to be adjusted to satisfy official complaints registered with the MPPDA from the German government.

This film would be the last film Talmadge made without audible dialogue. After this film was completed she separated from her husband and producer Schenck. Talmadge would spend much of the following year on vocal lessons in preparation for her first talking picture. Talmadge appeared in two talking films. The lackluster response to them forced her into an early retirement.

Cast

• Norma Talmadge as Mary Ann Wagner
• Gilbert Roland as Paul Hartman
• Arnold Kent as Nika Turgenov
• Boris de Fast as Passerby
• Michael Vavitch as Father Roche
• Gustav von Seyffertitz as Otto Krueger
• Gladys Brockwell as Countess
• Nicholas Soussanin as Count

Music

The film featured a theme song entitled “Poem” which was composed by Zdenko Fibich. This song is better known under its 1933 title "My Moonlight Madonna" in which the melody was slightly altered to fit the newly written lyrics. Although the song "Woman Disputed (I Love You)" (which was written by Bernie Grossman and Edward Ward) was published as the theme song of the film it is not featured at all on the recorded synchronized soundtrack released with the film. The orchestra featured on the soundtrack was directed by Hugo Riesenfeld with Josef Pasternack acting as assistant director.

Preservation

The film is extant at the Library of Congress film archive, and has been exhibited for audiences in recent years.

See also

• List of early sound feature films (1926–1929)

External links

• The Woman Disputed at IMDb
• The Woman Disputed is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
• original New York Times review