| On Thin Ice | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Film still | |
| Directed by | Malcolm St. Clair |
| Written by | Darryl F. Zanuck |
| Based on | The Dear Pretender by Alice Ross Colver |
| Produced by | Warner Bros. |
| Starring | Tom Moore Edith Roberts William Russell |
| Cinematography | Byron Haskin |
| Edited by | Clarence Kolster |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7reels |
| Country | United States |
| Language | Silent (Englishintertitles) |
On Thin Ice is a 1925 American silentcrime drama film directed byMal St. Clair and starringTom Moore,Edith Roberts, andWilliam Russell. It was produced and distributed byWarner Bros. and based upon a 1924 novel by Alice Ross Colver.[1][2][3]
As described in a film magazine review,[4] Rose (Roberts), desperately in need of money, finds a bag of money thrown over a fence by crooks. She rushes home with it only to find her father has died. She attempts to return the satchel but it is filled with paper and worthless money. The crooks become friendly with her, and although harassed by the police, she finally wins over one of them into going straight.[5]
Film historian Ruth Anne Dywer, quotingLeonard Mosley from his biography onDarryl Zanuck, reports that producerJack Warner was not particularly impressed with St. Clair's directing, despite the fact that his Warner Bros. films had performed well at the box office.[6]
New York Times film criticMordaunt Hall characterizedOn Thin Ice as a “trite” and “clumsy story” in which “an effort has been made to maintain the mystery concerning the thief.” Hall concludes that director Mal St. Clair failed to endow the film “with any original or bright touches.”[7]
ThoughPhotoplay rankedOn Thin Ice among the best of the month, the studio canceled St. Clair's contract following the release of the film.[8]
With no prints ofOn Thin Ice located in any film archives,[9] it is alost film.[10]
The picture survives only in screenplay form at the Library of the University of Southern California. Ruth Anne Dwyer notes that the motto “Those who skate on THIN ICE always fall through” was likely carried on the introductory title of the film itself.[11]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.