Credits

Studio: Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company
Released: June 28, 1915

Featured Cast: Victor Moore, Raymond Hatton

Producer: Jesse L. Lasky
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Screenwriter: Cecil B. DeMille
Source: the E.W. Townsend book and the Augustus Thomas play
Art director: Wilfred Buckland
Cinematographer: Alvin Wyckoff

Theme

A street youth is befriended by a social worker and given a job as a servant in a mansion.

Production Quotes

“Two street corners in New York City’s Bowery have been reproduced at the Lasky studio for Chimmie Fadden, as it was impossible to find cobblestones at any Los Angeles location. The two corners, built under the direction of technical director Wilfred Buckland, are reputed to have the exact atmosphere in every detail.”

– J.C. Jessen, “In and Out of Los Angeles Studios,” Motion Picture News, Vol. 11, No. 29 (May 29, 1915)

Reviews

“Chimmie Fadden is a delightful picture. The major portion of it is devoted to the expression of spontaneous comedy. A minor section of it is employed to furnish relief to one’s aching sides.”

– Peter Milne, The Motion Picture News, Vol. 11, No. 27 (July 10, 1915)

Artist Comment

“My mother had seen the play Chimmie Fadden and wrote me that there was only one actor who could play the part. He had never been in films, but I would be sorry if I did not cast him in this one. I sent for Victor Moore and gave him his first screen role. I am sure he was the main reason why Peter Milne, the critic of The Motion Picture News, wrote of that film as ‘a delightful picture.’”

– Cecil B. DeMille, Autobiography

Figures

Chimmie Fadden cost $10,504.39 and grossed $78,944.49.
(These figures have not been adjusted for inflation nor do they include the considerable profits realized from reissues, television syndication, and home entertainment formats.)