The Broken Oath

The Broken Oath
Advertisement in Billboard (1910)
Directed byHarry Solter
Produced byCarl Laemmle
StarringFlorence Lawrence
Production
company
Release date
  • 1910 (1910)
Running time
18 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Broken Oath is a 1910 silent short film starring Florence Lawrence, directed by Harry Solter, and produced by Carl Laemmle.[1] It was the first film to marquee the name of an actor, Lawrence,[2] to promote a film.[1]

Laemmle arranged elaborate publicity for the film, planting a fake news story in newspapers that Lawrence had been killed in a street-car accident. When this was widely picked up by other publications, he published advertisements saying that the original story was a lie and that she was starring in a new film to be released shortly (although some ads misspelled the film title as The Broken Bath).[1][3]

  1. ^ a b c Doyle, Jack. "A Star is Born, 1910s". PopHistory.com. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Timeline of Greatest Film Milestones and Turning Points in Film History - The Year 1910". Filmsite. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  3. ^ Boorstin, Daniel (2012). The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America (50th anniversary ed.). Vintage Books. pp. 155–156.