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A Lady of Chance

1928 film by Robert Zigler Leonard

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 17, 2026
Entity authorityQ2289935
Source-derived summary

A Lady of Chance is a 1928 American synchronized sound romantic comedy film directed by Robert Z. Leonard. In it, things become complicated when an irresistibly beautiful and charming woman (Norma Shearer) used as bait by a coterie of swindlers to lure rich men into compromising situations in which their fortunes can be stolen falls in love with one of her marks. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with singing and sound effects using both the sound-on-disc and sound-on-film process. The film is based upon the story "Little Angel" by Leroy Scott and is Norma Shearer's last silent film. Although the film was released with added dialogue scenes, Shearer had no lines. The film's copyright was renewed, so it did not enter the public domain until January 1, 2024.

Plot

Dolly "Angel Face" Morgan is an attractive parolee out to fleece any wealthy man who takes an interest in her. She is recognized by two fellow con artists, Gwen and Brad. Since they know she has not reported to her parole board, she reluctantly helps them set up a wealthy, married man; when her outraged "husband" breaks in and finds them in a compromising situation, the victim is glad to pay $10,000 to avoid any publicity. Later, however, the patsy realizes he has been taken and goes to the police.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “A Lady of Chance” is 1928 film by Robert Zigler Leonard. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Lady, Chance and film, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1928, 2024—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1928-01-01. For this dossier, Lady, Chance and film is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “1928 film by Robert Zigler Leonard” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2289935. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1928 and 2024.

Critical limits

Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “A Lady of Chance”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow A Lady of Chance primary sources, A Lady of Chance archive and Lady research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “A Lady of Chance”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from A Lady of Chance” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.