1917
Joan The Woman
Jeanne d'Arc - Joan of Arc (1412-1431)
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Based on Schiller's Die Jungfrau von Orleans.
Jeanne played by Geraldine Farrar. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille.

Originally released: 1917
Director: Cecil B. DeMille.
Runtime: 100 minutes
Language: English
Color: Black and White
Sound Mix: Silent (original)

Read also-> Back to Filmland to Visualize Joan of Arc
Cecil B. DeMille's silent, innovative depiction of the life of Joan of Arc is framed within a WWI trench soldier's dream, with opera star Geraldine Farrar shining in the title role. A visually spectacular mixture of otherworldly fantasy and reality, the film handles Joan's visions and martyrdom with stylish hand-tinted frames and double exposures of surreal ghostlike images that only Joan can see.

The flames that envelop Joan in the final scenes of the film are hand painted in deep reds that bounce off the black-and-white screen to great effect. Extended, artfully shot battle sequences highlight the film».

Jeanne d'Arc - Joan of Arc (1412-1431) Joan the Woman was produced and released during World War I - before the United States entered the war.

The prologue shows a British soldier (played by Wallace Reid) in a war trench, who sees a vision of Joan of Arc. Her message to him is this - now is the time, in his service as an ally to France, to right the wrong that was done to her nearly 500 years before. The only way to right the wrong is to help France be victorious, at any cost. The film then proceeds to a biography of "Joan the Woman," the great French martyr. This biography is divided into two epochs. The first details how Joan led France to victory over the British troops that were forcefully occupying part of France and were determined to claim the rest.

The second epoch deals with how Erich Trent (also played by Wallace Reid) betrayed Joan to the British. The Church, headed by the evil Bishop Cauchon (played by Theodore Roberts) and assisted by the mad Monk L'Oiseleur (played by Tully Marshall with a shaved pate), has been threatened by Joan all along.

They take possession of her and Cauchon is determined to burn her as a witch. The climactic sequence depicting the burning of Joan features hand-colored orange flames, and is especially impressive.
Jeanne d'Arc - Joan of Arc (1412-1431)