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Father and the Boys

1915 film by Joe De Grasse

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 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ3740100 ↗
Source-derived summary

Father and the Boys is a 1915 American silent comedy film directed by Joe De Grasse, written by Ida May Park, and co-starring Lon Chaney and Digby Bell. It is based on a popular 1908 Broadway play produced by Charles Frohman, called Father and the Boys by George Ade. This was Louise Lovely's American film debut after emigrating from Australia. She made a total of 8 films with Chaney during this time period.

Digby Bell reprised his Broadway role as Lemuel Morewood in the film (this was his first film role). Louise Lovely's role of Bessie Brayton was played by Margaret Dale in the play. The makeup-savvy Bell befriended Chaney on the set of this film and the two were seen trading makeup tips behind the scenes.

After Richelieu (1914), this was Lon Chaney's 2nd appearance in a full-length feature film, running approximately 50 minutes, much longer than the shorts he had been appearing in for Universal. A still exists which shows Chaney in the role of Tuck Bartholomew. The film is today considered to be lost.

Editorial summary

“Father and the Boys” enters the record as 1915 film by Joe De Grasse. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Father, Boys and film can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1915, 1908, 1914—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1915-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Father, Boys and film.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Father and the Boys” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Father, Boys and film provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3740100. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1915, 1908 and 1914.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. 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 “Father and the Boys”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Father and the Boys primary sources, Father and the Boys archive and Father 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 “Father and the Boys”?
  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Father and the Boys” 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.