Curlytop

For the 1935 Shirley Temple film, see Curly Top. For the plant disease, see Curly top.

Curlytop
Still
Directed by	Maurice Elvey
Written by	Fanny Hatton Frederic Hatton
Based on	"Twelve Golden Curls" 1921 story in More Limehouse Nights by Thomas Burke
Produced by	William Fox
Starring	Shirley Mason Wallace MacDonald Warner Oland
Cinematography	Joseph A. Valentine
Production company	Fox Film Corporation
Distributed by	Fox Film Corporation
Release date	December 28, 1924 (1924-12-28)
Running time	60 minutes
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

Curlytop is a lost 1924 American silent romantic drama film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Shirley Mason, Wallace MacDonald, and Warner Oland.^[1] It is based on one of the short stories collected in Limehouse Nights by Thomas Burke.^[2]

Plot

As described in a review in a film magazine,^[3] big Bill Branigan (MacDonald) leaves his sweetheart Bessie (Miller) for Curlytop (Mason), whose unconscious beauty naiveté enthrall him. Shanghai Dan (Oland), who dominates a gang of Chinese crooks in the Chinatown centered on Limehouse in the East End of London, also desires her. Determined to reform, Bill sets out in search of a job, so Bessie revenges herself by getting Curlytop drunk and cutting off her golden curls. Bill returns but cannot find Curlytop, and is persuaded to rekindle his relationship with Bessie. After he finds the golden curls among her belongings, Bill forces Bessie to reveal the whereabouts of Curlytop. Curlytop has been working for Shanghai Dan as a waitress on a floating barge. As Dan is hypnotizing her, another vessel crashes into the barge. Dan is drowned while Curlytop is rescued by Bill.

Cast

• Shirley Mason as Curlytop
• Wallace MacDonald as Bill Branigan
• Warner Oland as Shanghai Dan
• Diana Miller as Bessie
• George Kuwa as Wang Toy
• Ernie Adams as Sproggs
• Nora Hayden as Hilda
• Sharon Lynn as Annie (credited as Lindsay La Verne)

Preservation

With no prints of Curlytop located in any film archives,^[4] it is a lost film.

References

1. Solomon p. 291
2. Progressive Silent Film List: Curlytop at silentera.com
3. Sewell, Sumner (January 10, 1925). "Curlytop; Shirley Mason and Wallace MacDonald in Fox Picture of Limehouse Story". The Moving Picture World. 72 (2). New York City: Chalmers Publishing Co.: 137–138. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
4. Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: Curlytop

Bibliography

• Solomon, Aubrey. The Fox Film Corporation, 1915-1935: A History and Filmography. McFarland, 2011.

External links

• Curlytop at IMDb
• Curlytop at the TCM Movie Database
• Curlytop at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films