Credits

Studio: Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company
Released: September 7, 1914

Featured Cast: Dustin Farnum, Winifred Kingston

Producer: Jesse L. Lasky
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Screenwriter: Cecil B. DeMille
Source: the Owen Wister novel and the play by Owen Wister and Kirk La Shelle
Cinematographer: Alvin Wyckoff

Theme

A cheerful cowboy must defend himself against a town bully.

Production Quotes

“The Virginian will be the first Lasky release through the Paramount Pictures Corporation.”

– “Live News of the Week” The Motion Picture News, Vol. 10, No. 11 (September 19, 1914)

Reviews

“Drama, comedy, and photographic spectacle are the triple alliance met in the picturization of Owen Wister’s story. They win out very easily. The strength of the dramatic and spectacular elements is to be expected; but comedy is a less familiar attribute of virile tales of the West.”

– The New York Dramatic Mirror, September 9, 1914

Artist Comment

“With a story based on a best-selling novel and successful play, starring the play’s leading man, we knew that we had in The Virginian a property which would add to the company’s luster. But we held it back until September, releasing first, in August, what was really my second picture, The Call of the North.”

– Cecil B. DeMille in Cecil B. DeMille: Autobiography

Figures

The Virginian cost $17,022.06 and grossed $111,518.85
(These figures have not been adjusted for inflation nor do they include the considerable profits realized from reissues, television syndication, and home entertainment formats.)