The House of Mirth is a 1918 American silent melodrama film directed by French film director Albert Capellani, starring Katherine Harris Barrymore as Lily Bart. It is a cinema adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1905 novel The House of Mirth and the first-ever cinema adaptation of any of her work. Metro Pictures put many efforts into the film in order to turn the original novel into an "all-star cast" film to earn popularity, as Metro Pictures itself announced that the film was "one of the most important productions" during 1918, and that the film contained "the strongest and the most distinguished cast ever selected for the screen". Initially, Emmy Wehlen starred in the role of Lily Bart in the film. Later, she was replaced by Katherine Harris Barrymore. The film contributed to the huge success of Metro Pictures that year. It is not known whether the film currently survives. Plot Penniless socialite orphan Lily Bart is living with her wealthy aunt who insists that she take to herself a rich husband. Balking at this idea and remaining faithful to her impecunious sweetheart Lawrence Selden (Henry Kolker), Lily is desirous of maintaining her luxurious lifestyle: she accepts the financial "favors" of some married millionaires but refuses to surrender her virtue in return – until she discovers that her saintly Selden has been fooling around with another man's wife. In the original novel, Lily Bart dies after taking poison to commit suicide; however, in the film, the ending remained open as Selden's cousin comes to rescue her after she poisoned herself, and the film ended here, without further explanation. Cast Katherine Harris Barrymore as Lily Bart Henry Kolker as Lawrence Selden Christine Mayo as Bertha Trenor-Dorset Joseph Kilgour as Augustus Trenor-Dorset Edward Abeles as Simon Rosedale W. D. Fisher as Ned Silverton Lottie Briscoe as Gertie Farish Pauline Welsh as Nettie Struthers Maggie Western as Mrs. Haffen Nellie Parker Spaulding as Mrs. Penniston Sidney Bracy as Percy Gryce Kempton Greene as Jeff Wade Morgan Jones as Butler Reception The House of Mirth received much acclaim, especially for its characters and scene arrangement. Margaret I. MacDonald acclaimed in her review that the novel "makes an attractive basis for a screen production" and has been skillfully adapted by Director Albert Capellani and screenwriter June Mathis, with Katherine Harris Barrymore as the star, while the director "without unduly accentuating unpleasant situations ... has succeeded well in