Vintage original 11x14 in. US lobby card from the teens WWI-themed silent film war drama, THE DARK ROAD, released in 1917 by Triangle Distributing Corp. and directed by Charles Miller. Based upon a story by J.G. Hawks and John Lynch, Jim Morrison, an English army officer who comes from a very old and prominent family, marries the ravishingly beautiful but unscrupulous Cleo, who has no qualms about using her sexual allure to get the luxuries she wants but that her husband can't provide. When Jim is sent off to war, Cleo embarks on a series of affairs, one of which results in her becoming the love slave of a German spy--the very spy that her husband has been assigned to track down.

 

The image features an interior scene of Sir John Constable (Walt Whitman) sending his son, Cedric (John Gilbert), on a deadly mission as he hands the orders to him while the other officers (including actor Robert McKim, behind the letter), watch with concern. It is unrestored in fine+ condition with corner creases of varying sizes.


The March 17, 1917 Motography announced the upcoming release, featuring Dorothy Dalton “in another alluring "vampire" characterization” (the term referred to a sinister temptress rather than a supernatural creature). According to the March 22, 1917 Wid's Daily, J. G. Hawks wrote the scenario and John Lynch wrote the story, but this has not been corroborated by other sources. Reviews were mixed: While the May 1917 Photo-Play Journal endorsed the film, the April 7, 1917 Moving Picture World described it as “strong but repellant,” criticizing the producers’ judgment in making a feature about treason and betrayal while the U.S. was at war. The March 23, 1917 Variety expected the picture to be banned in England, where the story was set.