Less Than the Dust

7 reelsCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent(English intertitles)

Less than the Dust is a 1916 American silent feature film produced by and starring Mary Pickford with a release by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount Pictures. John Emerson directed and Eric von Stroheim was one of the assistant directors. There is a 35mm copy of this film that still survives.^[1][2]

The film was released on 6 November 1916.^[3]

Plot

Radha is a lower-caste Hindu orphan girl, raised by Ramlan, a sword maker. Radha is taught English in the street by a religious character. Witnessing the scene, a British officer, Captain Townsend, offers her a book Less Than the Dust, and Other Indian Love Lyrics; he soon returns to England. Ramlan reveals to Radha that her father was in fact British, a certain Captain Brooke, who died of an opium overdose. Radha goes to England to claim her inheritance: it so happens that her grandfather is also Townsend's uncle and that he just died. Townsend soon marries Radha.

Cast

• Mary Pickford - Radha
• David Powell - Capt. Richard Townsend
• Frank Losee - Capt. Bradshaw
• Mary Alden - Mrs. Bradshaw
• Mario Majeroni - Ramlan
• Cesare Gravina - Jawan
• Francis Joyner - A Derelict
• Russell Bassett - Ahmed
• Walter Morgan - Bhesstie
• Merceita Esmond - A Gossip (*as Mercita Esmonde)
• Nathaniel Sack - Undetermined Role
• Frank Lackteen - (*unbilled)

Reception

The Moving Picture World saluted Pickford's return to the screen after a few months hiatus.^[4]

References

External links

• Less Than the Dust at IMDb
• allmovie/synopsis; Less Than the Dust