Percy Marmont

British actor Percy Marmont (1883-1977) was a tall matinee idol, who divided his time between the theatre and films. He had a prolific career in 1920s Hollywood and 1930s British cinema. He is best remembered as the title character in Lord Jim (1925) and as one of Clara Bow's love interests in Mantrap (1926). He also starred in three British Alfred Hitchcock thrillers. Marmont acted in more than 80 films between 1916 and 1969.


British postcard in the Cinema Chat Series. Photo: Vitagraph.


Spanish postcard, no. 21.75. Caption (in Spanish): "I dedicate my work in this film to the audience of the Kursaal". It's not entirely clear but this card could refer to The Street of Forgotten Men (Herbert Brenon, 1925). The Kursaal is the Teatro-Cinema Kursaal in Barcelona, which opened in 1910, went through several changes, closed in 1965 and was demolished, despite being the main and most cherished cinema in Barcelona during its existence. Many cards were issued by this cinema, with Spanish-written dedications supposedly written by the stars (but in reality written by the Kursaal people themselves).


Spanish postcard in the Estrellas del Cine series by Editorial Grafica, Barcelona, no. 175. Photo: Paramount Film.

The first epic in South Africa's motion-picture history

Percy Garfield Marmont was born on the suburban west side of London in 1883. His parents were Cecil Joseph Marmont and Emily Charlotte Wyatt. From 1900 on, he already had some success on London stages and also went on theatrical tours, taking him to South Africa (1913-1916) and Australia (1917).

While touring in South Africa, Marmont appeared as an extra in the film De Voortrekkers / Winning a Continent (Harold M. Shaw, 1916) of which a print was found at the Dutch Eye Filmmuseum a few decades ago. This silent film by African Film Productions was the first epic in South Africa's motion-picture history and also that nation's oldest surviving feature film. It portrays the Boers' 'Great Trek' of the 1830s, concluding with a hegemonic recreation of the Battle of Blood River that occurred on 16 December 1838, when a few hundred armed Afrikaners defeated several thousand Zulus.

In Australia, Marmont made his regular film debut in The Monk and the Woman (Franklyn Barrett, 1917). This now-lost film was controversial and received protests from church groups, being condemned by the Australian Catholic Federation and called "a most offensive travesty on the Catholic religion". However, the film passed the censor and was a major success at the box office.

In the same year, Marmont reached the United States and made his Broadway debut in the comedy 'The Three Bears'. The following year, Marmont went to Los Angeles and continued his film work. He starred opposite Elsie Ferguson in the silent, lost drama Rose of the World (Maurice Tourneur, 1918) produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Artcraft Pictures, an affiliate of Paramount Pictures.

At Vitagraph, Percy Marmont played the roles of noble heroes and romantic lovers without leaving too much impression. Examples are the comedy-drama The Climbers (Tom Terriss, 1919) opposite Corinne Griffith and the drama Slaves of Pride (George Terwilliger, 1920) starring Alice Joyce. Marmont also starred opposite such leading ladies as Ethel Barrymore and Geraldine Farrar.


French postcard by Editions Cinémagazine, no. 265.


Swedish postcard by Arvid Ljunggrens Konstförlag, Stockholm, no. 535.

A hernia he suffered while picking up Clara Bow

In Hollywood, Percy Marmont had his breakthrough with his part as Mark Sabre in If Winter Comes (Harry Milliarde, 1923) for Fox. Two years after his first major success in the USA, Marmont became the title hero in Paramount's silent film version of Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim (Victor Fleming, 1925), also with Shirley Mason. Another year later he was the film partner of Clara Bow in the comedy Mantrap (Victor Fleming, 1926). On IMDb, I.S. Mowis wrote: "Marmont starred in more than fifty silent films, appearing with some of the top screen actresses of the period, beginning with Corinne Griffith and Alice Joyce at Vitagraph. His perpetually serious, somewhat tortured demeanour may well have been compounded by a hernia he suffered while picking up Clara Bow in Mantrap (1926)."

The often-retold legend that Marmont Lane and the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood refer to Percy Marmont is wrong. In fact, the street predates the hotel by eight years. Marmont Lane was named in 1921 on a tract owned by a dozen investors, none of whom were Percy Marmont. Marmont moved to Hollywood in late 1923, so he could not inspire this street name. 'Marmont' is possibly a portmanteau of mar and monte – Spanish for 'sea' and 'mountain' – alluding to its hilly views of the Pacific, although two of the tract’s owners were Paul and Zida Marlay, for whom nearby Marlay Drive is named, so the 'Mar' might be for them. The Chateau Marmont opened in 1929 as an apartment building.

Back in Britain in 1928, Percy Marmont continued his film career. He played officers, fathers, police inspectors, nobles, cardinals, and other respecters. On stage, he starred in adaptations of classic American plays including 'Witness for the Prosecution' and 'The Philadelphia Story'. Percy Marmont's first full talkie film was probably the mystery thriller The Squeaker (Edgar Wallace, 1930) in which he played the leading part of Captain Leslie.

Making films both in England and Hollywood, he was getting third, fourth and fifth-billing roles, often as a romantic lead. He appeared in three films by Alfred Hitchcock, the romance Rich and Strange (1931) starring Henry Kendall and Joan Barry, the Spy thriller Secret Agent (1936) starring Madeleine Carroll and Peter Lorre, and the crime thriller Young and Innocent (1937) with Nova Pilbeam. In 1936 he shot his only film as a director with the title The Captain's Table (1936). For the small part of Cardinal Wolsey in the French historical comedy Les perles de la couronne / The Pearls of the Crown (Sacha Guitry, 1937), Marmont went to Paris.

In the next decade, Marmont returned to the stage and appeared less and less in films. He rarely played leads, mostly supporting roles. In the 1950s, he appeared in a few television productions. On stage, he partnered with Vivien Leigh in her final British theatrical appearance in 'La Contessa' (1965). In 1968, after a ten-year absence from the camera, the veteran artist returned to the screen with the part of Judge Sir Matthew Gregory in the crime film Hostile Witness (Ray Milland, 1969). Marmont spent the final years of his life, almost blind, at his country estate. Percy Marmont died in London in 1977 at the age of 93. He was married twice, first to Elsie Marguerite Davison and till his death to Dorothy Phyllis Stewart-Dawson, with whom he had two daughters, the actresses Pamela and Patricia Marmont. Actress Emma Vansittart is his granddaughter.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 46.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. 46b. Photo: Paramount.

Sources: I.S. Mowis (IMDb), Graham Thomas (Silent Are Golden), Thomas Staedeli (Cyranos), Daveland, Wikipedia (German and English) and IMDb. Thanks to Marlene Pilaete for her additional information and corrections.