Sapho (1917)

Pauline Frederick has created from this famous literary character, a role that will linger in the mind forever as one of her very greatest screen achievements.

Sapho, whose real name is Fanny Legrand, is the daughter of poor people, her father being a coachman, and her early home is little more than a hovel in the slums of Paris. She is a flower seller on the streets of Paris, earning a few sous daily, which she uses to support her family. She meets famous sculptor, Caoudal, who recognizes her wonderful beauty and persuades her to pose for him. The luxury of his studio awakens in her an unsuspected love for the beautiful things of life. It's not long before she becomes the most talked of and sought after model of Paris. She is content to live in this way, reveling in beauty and the admiration of her friends and Caoudal himself. Until a poet named Dejoie, moved by her beauty, writes verses to her which make both himself and her still more famous, winning her away from Caoudal. A lost film.