Heedless Moths

1921 film by Robert Zigler Leonard

June 3, 1921 (1921-06-03) (United States)

Running time

60 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Heedless Moths is a 1921 American silent melodrama film written and directed by Robert Z. Leonard. The film stars Jane Thomas as real life nude model Audrey Munson. Munson appeared as herself in the nude scenes, which were posed similar to tableau vivants, and the film was based on a series of autobiographical stories she wrote.^[1]^[2] Heedless Moths also stars Holmes Herbert and Hedda Hopper.

Plot

As described in a film publication,^[3] idealistic sculptor (Herbert), who has a "butterfly" wife (Hopper), is working on a nude group from life. He and his model (Munson/Thomas) fall in love, but it is not a love to be realized. In the meantime the butterfly wife has become enmeshed in the nets of a dilettante artist (Crane). One night he pulls in the nets and she finds herself in his apartment. When the model realizes the sculptor is searching for his wife, she breaks into the dilettante's apartment, hides the wife, and plays the role of the reveler, saving the marriage of the man she loves.

Cast

Jane Thomas as Audrey Munson
Holmes Herbert as The Sculptor
Hedda Hopper as His Wife
Ward Crane as The Dilettante
Tom Burrough as The Sage
Audrey Munson as herself
Henry Duggan as The Spirit of the Arch
Irma Harrison as The Prey

Production

The working title of the film was The Soul Within.^[4]

Reception

Upon its release, Heedless Moths was generally panned by critics.^[5] The film magazine Photoplay in an editorial note recommended that the film not be seen as it would add to calls for film censorship.^[6]

Munson later sued the film's production company, Perry Plays, and producer Alan Rock for $15,000 in damages after they chose to send Jane Thomas on a tour to promote the film instead of Munson.

Preservation

With no copies of Heedless Moths listed as being in any film archives,^[7] it is a lost film.

References

^ Heedless Moths at AllMovie
^ Rozas, Diane; Bourne Gottehrer, Anita (1999). American Venus: The Extraordinary Life of Audrey Munson, Model and Muse. Princeton Architectural Press. p. 90. ISBN 1-890-44904-0.
^ "Heedless Moths: Audrey Munson's Figure Featured Clearly in This". Film Daily. 16 (79). New York City: Wyd's Films and Film Folks, Inc.: 14 June 19, 1921. Retrieved March 29, 2014.
^ Leonard, Robert Z. (April 25, 1921). "An Appeal". Film Daily. 16 (25). New York City: Wyd's Films and Film Folks, Inc.: 3. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
^ Rozas 1999 p. 91
^ "Heedless Moths". Photoplay. 20 (4). New York City: Photoplay Publishing Company: 64. September 1921.
^ Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Heedless Moths