THE FILM FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Belle Bennett was 32 when she made STELLA DALLAS (1925) and her strong performance caused her to be typecast in mother roles, including in John Ford's MOTHER MACHREE (1927).
Henry King's STELLA DALLAS (1925) was the first screen adaptation of the 1923 novel of the same name by Olive Higgins Prouty. A surprise box office success, largely due to Belle Bennett's incredible performance as Stella, the film, a striking portrait of class difference, centers on Stella's efforts to raise her daughter and do right by her. The role made Bennett famous, which was quite an accomplishment given the unglamorous nature of the character she was portraying. Frances Marion's adaptation of Prouty's novel is refreshingly restrained, providing a surprising contrast to the high melodrama of the plot and aligning quite well with director Henry King's gentle style. The film also stars a young Ronald Colman, whom King had cast in his earlier film, THE WHITE SISTER (1923), after discovering him on the stage in New York City. Described by one reviewer upon its release as having a "painful beauty," this original version is a remarkable feat of the silent film era.
Director Henry King got his start as an actor. His last screen role was in 1920. Before working in the movies, he acted on stage because he was told his blue eyes wouldn't photograph well!
More specifically, clothing plays a huge role in STELLA DALLAS, as Coppedge outlined in his book "Henry King's America":
"But if there is one symbol which signifies visually Stella's social ignorance, it is clothes. Goldwyn's talented costumier Sophie Wachner picked up Prouty's description of Stella's dress (King had marked this description in his copy of the novel), and the contrast with Helen Morrison's attire tells it all. Mrs. Morrison's riding habit is carefully tailored. The straight lines of her loose-hanging chiffon (a day-dress for the home) is exquisitely telling in contrast to Stella's grotesquely fussy ruffles and feathers. Nineteen twenty-five was the year in which Chanel revolutionized American fashion; that was the year Gloria Swanson, who had spent months in Paris making Madame Sans-Gêne, helped to introduce these elegantly simple fashions to the United States. But it was not just a matter of getting outfitted bu Chanel. Poor Stella lacked the other sine qua non of acceptance manners."
Director Henry King was an avid pilot who loved to shoot on location. He would often fly his own plane looking for the perfect place.