George Barr McCutcheon's popular novel, Graustark: The Story of a Love Behind a Throne, reached the screen in May of 1915 courtesy of Chicago's Essanay company. The dashing Francis X. Bushman starred as American Grenfall Lorry, who meets the incognito Princess Yetive of Graustark (Beverly Bayne) on a train. Lovesick, Lorry follows the girl back to her home country, where he rescues her from a forced marriage to the unscrupulous Prince Lorenz of Asphain (Bryant Washburn). One of Essanay's most popular productions, Graustark was filmed on New York's West Side, in Chicago, Washington D.C., and at the Potomac River. McCutcheon's novel was filmed again in 1925 as a vehicle for Norma Talmadge.