Soul of the Beast was released by Metro Pictures Corp. on May 7, almost a year after it was produced, under a unique contract signed on March 8, 1923. Marcus Loew was attracted to Soul of the Beast by its novelty value. Madge Bellamy plays "the Cinderella of the Circus," Ruth. Owning the show is her stepfather, who cages and exhibits her as "the wild woman from Borneo," so that only Oscar the elephant can save her when a fire breaks out. Fleeing to the Canadian woods, she meets a handicapped young musician (Cullen Landis) and both are bullied by Caesar (Noah Beery). Fortunately, Oscar, no matter how out-of-place, finds his favorite human companion, and he pursues Caesar into a raging river. With Paul cured by surgery, the movie ends as Oscar rocks the crib containing the baby of the virtuous couple.
John Griffith Wray's direction does nothing to reduce the absurdity, with the occasional bits of humor falling flat. Outrageous elements in Ralph H. Dixon's scenario from C. Gardner Sullivan's story that might have succeeded as pure farce are handled seriously. Sullivan's outline, as indicated by the working titles Someone To Love and Ten Ton Love, was bizarre, even at barely five reels in length. Bellamy recalled, "Soul of the Beast did me a lot of harm
. I was disreputably coy in it. I gave a worse performance than the elephant. We both simpered in the picture." Publicity stills showed Bellamy in the embrace of Oscar. The idea to combine the youthful actress with a gigantic "pet" was regarded as valid by at least one Ince competitor, Cecil B. DeMille, who complimented Ince after watching the movie with his family. "'Soul of the Beast ' is ten tons of laughter. The kids pronounced it the best they had ever seen and the grown-ups were just as enthusiastic." Just before shooting was about to commence, Wray contracted with Howe's Great London Circus. Early in the planning, Ince decided that rather than building sets for the "big top" sequences he would rent an entire circus in order to secure the most realistic atmosphere. Further, he ordered that the cast—Bellamy, Landis, Beery, Vola Vale, Bert Sprotts, Harry Rattenberry, Carrie Clark Ward, and Lincoln Stedman—should travel with the circus, joining them in meals and learning their habits before shooting began. Henry Sharp and Gus Boswell went along as cinematographers and all of the movie was shot as the circus played for a week in May in San Rafael, Vallejo, Oakland, Richmond, San Jose, Lodi, Martinez, Fraser, and Antioch.
Circus attendance broke all records with the filmmakers accompanying them, and the performers of the big top were eager to demonstrate their talent for the camera. Many of their costumes were purchased by Ince for possible future circus-related productions. Endless difficulties were encountered in transporting Oscar, and the High Sierras served for the forest scenes, giving the pachyderm the space he needed to behave naturally. Oscar was covered by two $10,000 accident policies throughout production, and he consumed hundreds of pounds of lump sugar in order to be convinced to do his tricks. Soul of the Beast was shot from March 24 to May 20, 1922, and cost $206,982.
Whatever the truth, by 1927, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer reported a mere $150,000 in paid business. However, its family appeal made it one of the first late Ince movies to be released on the 16 mm. home movie market, with the result that it is perhaps the most widely-seen Ince film made during his final years. This is doubly unfortunate since, as I outline in my Ince biography, it is very atypical of his product during these years.
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