Zeus

• Hope Hampton
• E.K. Lincoln
• Lon Chaney

Actress Hope Hampton and her producer, Jules Brulatour, were sort of a low-rent Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst -- Brulatour spent loads of money trying to make the woman he loved a star. Unfortunately, Hampton did not have Davies' talent, but she's pretty good in this picture. Brulatour pulled out all the stops financially and even used a type of color film that existed at the time for the picture's historical sequences. In addition, Hampton is supported by a fine cast, including E.K. Lincoln and -- of all people -- Lon Chaney (why he agreed to appear under Miss Hampton is mystifying). Hampton plays Bessie MacGregor, a hat check girl who is run over by a society matron. The matron winds up hiring Bessie as a companion and her womanizing brother, J. Warburton Ashe (Lincoln), toys with her affections. She leaves the matron's care and moves into a boarding house where she meets sometime thief Tony Pantelli (Chaney). Bessie falls ill and Ashe, while hunting in England, finds the Holy Grail (here's where the color Medieval sequences come in). The cup supposedly can heal all ills, so when Ashe brings it back to the States, Pantelli steals it and gives it to Bessie. She is cured, and eventually Ashe returns to her -- this time sincere in his affections. Incidentally, one major difference between Brulatour and Hearst is that Brulatour was single, and Hampton ultimately gave up her acting career and married him.