William Fox presents Silver Wings. [Drop title].
(n. p.): [Fox Film Company], [1922]. 17-1/4 x 13-1/2 inches. Window card, printed on stiff white stock and handpainted in color. Bottom blank area trimmed off; top edge trimmed unevenly; evidence of old tape and tape removal to border, with some loss to paper overlay; light spotting to verso; light musty odor. Good.
Window card for the lost silent film starring Mary Carr, Percy Helton, Joseph Striker, and Jane Thomas, and directed by Edwin Carew and Jack Ford. The film follows the fortunes of Anna Webb, played by Carr, and her children, Harry (the oldest and Anna's favorite, played by Striker), John (Helton), and Ruth (Thomas). Thanks to Anna's prudence, the Webbs start a factory manufacturing an invention of Mr. Webb's, and by the time the children are grown, the family is on its way to prosperity. However, Mr. Webb dies suddenly one Christmas day, and Anna has to take over running the business. Unfortunately, she cannot see that Harry is callow and deceitful, stealing from the business, letting his brother take the fall for it, and driving Ruth from home because she wants to marry a working-class man. Eventually, she discovers that Harry has forged her name and stolen or lost everything of value. Anna sells what's left and, unbeknownst to her children, who have deserted her, takes up residence in a squalid tenement; one day, while out wandering the streets, she is struck by a car. John and Ruth visit her, and finally a reformed Harry returns, after being rescued from suicide by John. The film ends with Anna's arms around her children at the fade out.
Although Carr won endless plaudits for playing a long-suffering mother in multiple roles, including this one, the film was panned in the New York Times: noting its similarity to other "mother-love" themed films of the time, the reviewer writes, "As you might expect, this picture is obvious all the way through and misses no opportunity to play for the smiles and tears of those who smile and cry easily at the obviously concocted."