The Divine Lady

The Divine Lady
Theatrical release poster
Directed byFrank Lloyd
Written byForrest Halsey
Agnes Christine Johnston (continuity)
Harry Carr (intertitles)
Based onThe Divine Lady: a Romance of Nelson and Emma Hamilton
1924 novel
by E. Barrington
Produced byFrank Lloyd
Walter Morosco
Richard A. Rowland
StarringCorinne Griffith
Victor Varconi
H.B. Warner
Ian Keith
CinematographyJohn F. Seitz
Edited byHugh Bennett
Music byCecil Copping
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
  • December 26, 1928 (1928-12-26) (Sweden)
  • March 31, 1929 (1929-03-31) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesSound (Synchronized)
English intertitles

The Divine Lady is a 1928 American pre-Code synchronized sound historical drama film. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. It stars Corinne Griffith and tells the story of the love affair between Horatio Nelson and Emma Hamilton. It featured the theme song "Lady Divine", with lyrics by Richard Kountz and music by Nathaniel Shilkret, which became a popular hit in 1929 and was recorded by numerous artists, such as Shilkret, Frank Munn, Ben Selvin (as the Cavaliers), Smith Ballew, Adrian Schubert, Sam Lanin, and Bob Haring.

The film was adapted by Harry Carr, Forrest Halsey, Agnes Christine Johnston, and Edwin Justus Mayer from the novel The Divine Lady: A Romance of Nelson and Emma Hamilton by E. Barrington. It was directed by Frank Lloyd.

The film won the Academy Award for Best Director and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Corinne Griffith) and Best Cinematography. It is the only film to be awarded Best Director without a Best Picture nomination (one year earlier, Two Arabian Knights was awarded for Best Director of a Comedy Picture without being nominated for Best Picture).