The look of love

As summer begins to bloom, Screenonline turns to romance, as we explore screen lovers of the silent age. Hollywood gave us Valentino, Theda Bara and Clara Bow; Britain had... well, Ivor Novello, coolly beautiful as Parisian rogue The Rat, tragic as Adrian Brunel's Man Without Desire, mysterious as Hitchcock's Lodger. Miles Mander, gloriously caddish in The Pleasure Garden (Hitchcock's first villain) and The First Born, (tormenting lovely Madeleine Carroll). Alma Taylor captured hearts in tragic Hardy-esque roles, while Lilian Hall Davis and Elissa Landi were modern but vulnerable romantic leads. For on-screen chemistry, few matched real-life couple Guy Newall and Ivy Duke, while Henry Edwards and Chrissie White were the Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford of these shores.

Silent Lovers