The Lady. 1925. USA. Directed by Frank Borzage. Screenplay by Frances Marion, from a play by Martin Brown. With Norma Talmadge, Wallace MacDonald, Marc MacDermott. Digital restoration by Library of Congress, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center and the Cohen Collection. 85 min.
One of the top stars of the silent era (and the likely model for *Sunset Boulevard*’s Norma Desmond), Norma Talmadge is almost forgotten today, largely because the films she made for her own production company have remained unrestored and unavailable. But thanks to a new effort from the Cohen Film Collection and the Library of Congress, Talmadge’s films are coming back into circulation—and there is no better place to start than with this sumptuous melodrama directed by master-of-the-form Frank Borzage and written by Frances Marion.