A Daughter of the Gods is a 1916 American silentfantasydrama film written and directed by Herbert Brenon. The film was controversial because of the sequences of what was regarded as superfluous nudity by the character Anitia, played by Australian swimming star Annette Kellermann. The scene is regarded as the first complete nude scene by a major star, which occurred during a waterfall sequence, though most of Kellerman's body is covered by her long hair.[4] It was filmed by Fox Film CorporationinKingston, Jamaica, where huge sets were constructed.[5]
Brenon served as writer of this original scenario/screenplay for the film. However, he more than likely saw and was influenced by David Belasco and John Luther Long's 1902 Broadway play The Darling of the Gods starring Blanche Bates, Robert T. Haines, and young George Arliss, which has a similar theme of reward for rescuing a child and a large ensemble cast. The play differs in that it is set in feudal Japan while the movie is backdropped in an undersea kingdom, not unlike Atlantis.
Brenon made aspects of the play cinematic (underwater sequences, Kellerman's nudity, etc.) in an obvious effort to avoid charges of plagiarism of Belasco's play and hence a lawsuit.[6][7][8]
After receiving the film assignment with its budget limit of $1 million, director Brenon visited the Metropolitan Museum of ArtinNew York City where he was inspired by paintings such as A Dream of the Arabian NightsbyVillegas. The opening scene of the film was claimed to be a composite of Cabanel'sThe Birth of Venus and Coypel'sVenus Frolicking in the Sea with Nymphs.[9]
The film is credited as the first US production to cost at least $1 million ($19.3 million in 2023) to produce,[10] with actual costs just exceeding $1.1 million ($21.3 million in 2023).[1] Studio head William Fox was so incensed with the cost of production he removed Herbert Brenon's name from the film. However, Brenon sued to have his name restored to the film's credits, and won.[11] Advertising for the film would often note its million dollar cost.
Great cost was afforded to make a sanitary of mosquito-proofing over a section of Kingston, Jamaica. Sets consumed 2,500 barrels (400 m3) of plaster, 500 barrels (79 m3) of cement, 2,000,000 board feet (5,000 m3) of lumber, and ten tons of paper. Director Herbert Brenon employed 20,000 people during the eight months of production and used 220,000 feet (67,000 m) of film to shoot the picture.[12] The Moorish city cost $350,000 ($6.77 million in 2023) to build, and was destroyed in one climactic scene.[1] The total number of persons appearing in it was 21,218, which included 200 mermaids, and 300 dancing girls and women of the Sultan's harem.[1] The 100 women recruited from the US and Europe to portray nymphs underwent weeks of training by Kellerman to swim using a single stroke in unison and to avoid unnecessary splashing.[13]
An original score was composed for the film by Robert Hood Bowers, which was played by an orchestra during each screening. It was considered the most memorable film score up to that time.[14]
The existing film censorship boards in the United States and Canada and the National Board of Review passed the film in spite of its brief nudity scene, calling it artistic.[15][16] Fox made general distribution of the film for the 1916 December holiday season. President Wilson and his wife, to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, attended the film's December 18, 1916 showing at the Belasco Theater, where it opened in Washington, D.C. Prior to this, the Wilsons had only seen films shown at the White House.[17]
it reportedly made a net profit of $1.35 million.[2]
