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w? i / T" fr'r^-'trrrtif*YiiKi h (cid:127)"W Antliony Slide and » Edward Wagenknecht FIFTY GREAT AMERICAN SILENT EILMS 1912-1920 , A Pictorial Survey with 210 iiliislralions !Mfc (cid:127) 1 LOgf'nr. „ FIFTY GREAT AMERICAN SILENT FILMS 1912-1920 A PICTORIAL SURVEY Anthony Slide & Edward Wagenknecht Dover Publications, inc., New York To the memory ofthegreatscreen players of the teens, in particular HobartBosworth, Robert Harron, FlorenceLaBadie, andFlorence Turner ByAnthonySlide Early American Cinema (1970) The Griffith Actresses (1973) The Idols ofSilence (1976) The BigV (1976) Early Women Directors (1977) Aspects ofAmerican Film HistoryPriorto 1920 (1978) ByEdward Wagenknecht The Movies in the Age of Innocence (1962) Seven Daughters of the Theater (1964) Merely Players (1966) As Far as Yesterday (1968) etc. etc. ByEdward WagenknechtandAnthonySlide TheFilms ofD. W. Griffith (1975) Copyright © 1980 byAnthonySlideandEdwardWagenknecht. All rights reserved under Pan American and International CopyrightConventions. Published in Canada byGeneral PublishingCompany, Ltd., 30 LesmillRoad, DonMills,Toronto,Ontario. Published in the United Kingdom by Constable and Company, Ltd., 10OrangeStreet,LondonWC2H7EG. Fifty Great American Silent Films, 1912-1920: A Pictorial Surveyis a new work, first publishedbyDoverPublications, Inc., in1980. InternationalStandardBookNumber:0-486-23985-3 LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber:80-65178 ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica DoverPublications,Inc. 180VarickStreet NewYork,N.Y. 10014 PREFACE This book coversfifty American feature films, arranged Anthony Slide is responsible for all the credits. Edward chronologically in the orderoftheir release, from the 1912- Wagenknecht wrote most of the synopses. Both writers 1920period, which saw the real emergence of this type of have contributed to the captions. All the historical-critical film. commentarieshavebeen signed (withitalic initials). We do not claim that these are "the fifty greatest films" For the use of films and stills, and for other favors, we of the period. We do claim that they are broadly rep are indebtedto the following,to all ofwhomit isa pleasure resentative. There are films here which one or the other or to expressourgratitude: both of us love very much, and there are others which one orthe other orboth dislike.Weagree,however, that every TheAcademyofMotionPictureArtsandSciences TheBritishFilm Institute (PatriciaCoward) film included has either historical or aesthetic value or Robert Cushman both. In a sense, this volume is a companion to the same MissClaireDuBrey authors' The Films of D. W. Griffith (Crown Publishers, TomFulbright George Eastman House (GeorgePratt) 1975), in which all the feature films of that master were coveredingreaterdetail than has beenpossiblehere,along Miss LillianGish with general, overall consideration of his Biographs. For RobertGitt this reason, only Griffith's three very greatest films—The Miss Ethel Grandin The Museum ofModernArt Film Library (Mary Corliss) Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, and Broken Blossoms— JackSpears havebeentreatedhere. The volume closes with Charles Chaplin's The Kid, HerbSterne which was not shown until January, 1921. But it was Miss BlancheSweet produced in 1920, and, except for the greatly inferior TheWisconsinCenterfor TheatreResearch (Susan Tillie's Punctured Romance, which starred not him but Dalton) Marie Dressier, it wasChaplin's first longfilm. Hisvogue, We are again deeply indebted to Robert Cushman, who built up in short films, was one of the two or three made the majority of the prints for us. Our debt to him in outstanding cinematic phenomena of our period, and we connection with the four Mary Pickford films is especially felt that it would be absurd to publish this book with no great. Chaplinin it. A. S. E. W. CONTENTS Fromthe Mangerto the Cross A PoorLittleRich Girl The Count ofMonte Cristo A Tale ofTwo Cities Traffic in Souls The Spirit of'76 The Spoilers Polly ofthe Circus Tess ofthe Storm Country BarbarySheep The Bargain The Countess Charming A Fool ThereWas StellaMaris Hypocrites The Blue Bird The Italian Prunella The WarrensofVirginia Mickey The Birth ofa Nation The Heart ofHumanity Carmen Broken Blossoms The Coward TheMiracleMan Eyes ofYouth The Cheat Peggy Anne ofGreen Gables Hell's Hinges Male and Female Civilization Behindthe Door Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Intolerance ADaughter ofthe Gods Treasure Island Remodeling Her Husband Romeo and Juliet War Brides Suds OliverTwist While New York Sleeps Joan the Woman The Penalty SnowWhite TheMark ofZorro Panthea The Kid FROM THE MANGER TO THE CROSS A Kalem production. World premiere: Queen's Hall, membered at the time From the Manger to the Cross was London, October3, 1912. U.S. premiere: Wanamaker'sAu first shown must have been the three-reel Pathe of 1907. ditorium, New York, October 14, 1912. 5 reels. (Reedited Kalem's first excursions abroad were to Ireland in 1910 and reissued in 1938 with music, commentary, and sound and 1911, where they made, among otherthings, three-reel effects by theReverend Brian Hession.) productions of such Dion Boucicault stage works as The Director: Sidney Olcott. Screenplay: Gene Gauntier. Colleen Bawn and Arrah-na-Pogue; these pictures, which Photography: George K. Hollister. Scenic Artist: Allen caused their makers to be facetiously dubbed "The Famham. O'Kalems," were highly rated in their time, and the stills lookverygoodeventoday. CAST: R. Henderson Bland (The Christ); Gene Gauntier From the Manger to the Cross was made in Egypt and (The Virgin Mary); Percy Dyer (The Boy Christ); Alice Palestine, apparently on the initiative of director Sidney Hollister (Mary Magdalene); Helen Lindroth (Martha); Olcott and Kalem's highly competent and ambitious lead Jack J. Clark (John); J. P. McGowan (Andrew); Robert ing actress and scenarist Gene Gauntier, without authori Vignola (Judas); SidneyBaher(Lazarus). zation from the front office. It was phenomenally success ful, especially in England, where it was warmly praised by SYNOPSIS: This pictorial biography of Jesus includes both Dean Inge andthe Bishop of London. But both Olcott his birth at Bethlehem, the flight to Egypt, the return to and Miss Gauntier were so disappointed by the attitude of Nazareth, the visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve, their employersthattheyleftKalem, andwiththeir depar the callingofthe disciples, theturningofwaterto wine, the turethegreatdayswereover. raising of Lazarus, the extension of forgiveness to the There wassomethingodd about this film from the begin woman who was a sinner, and the events ofthe Passion— ning. Gene Gauntier claimed to have conceived the idea in the Last Supper, the agony in Gethsemane, the trial, and delirium while recovering from sunstroke, and Olcott en the Crucifixion. gaged R. Henderson Bland over the telephone to playThe COMMENTARY: Though Vitagraph's five-reel Life of Christina silentfilmbecausehelikedhisvoice! Moses dates back to 1909-10, "features" before 1912 were Seen today. From the Manger to the Cross seems more largely two- and three-reelers, and it was not until about impressive in the more intimate scenes than in its crowd 1915 that the five-reeler became the staple ofthe ordinary effects. One wonders why the Resurrection was omitted. In film program. Most of Kalem's films were one-reelers; the view of the audience to which the film was directed, ra firm began in 1907, and for the first three years they did tionalistic considerations can hardly be supposed to apply. not even have a studio; it is not surprising then that they Was Olcott perhaps merely being faithful to an excellent should have made a virtue of necessity by turning out so title, which had been adopted to differentiate the produc many local-color films (as in their pictures about the tion from other Passion Plays? Or was he deterred by the Georgia "crackers") and action films (as in theirCivil War difficulty of staging a Resurrection scene? (It must be items). But it does seem oddly ironical that their one five- admitted that many such are more comic than awe-inspir reeler, which they had never wished to make at all, should ing.) Evidently some audiences found the omission unsatis now be practically the only production by which they are factory, for an unidentified hand has splicedthe Resurrec remembered. tion episode from another film onto the end of the print of Passion Plays goback to the very beginnings of film his From the Manger to the Cross now at Eastman House. tory, but the only one many filmgoers could have re (E. W.) Marywith theinfantChrist,Joseph, andtheThree WiseMen. • ? >• ti u m Nary in Scenes iron the Kaletn Feature Production "The Life of Christ" (In Five Parts). THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO A Famous Players Film Company production. Released and Famous Players were to grow quickly in importance. November1,1913.5 reels. In July of 1915, Zukor combined with the Jesse L. Lasky Presented by Daniel Frohman. Director and Photog Feature Play Company, and subsequently merged with raphy: Edwin S. Porter. Screenplay: Hampton Del Ruth other producers to become Paramount Pictures Corpora (based on the stage play by Charles Fechter and the novel tion on January 1, 1917. At the time of his death, on byAlexandreDumas). July 10, 1976, Zukor was still Chairman Emeritus of {The Count of Monte Cristo has been filmed many Paramount. times, in particular in 1908 by Selig, in 1922 by William For his first production, Zukor chose James O'Neill to Fox, andin 1934 byReliance.) repeat his performance in the title role of The Count of MonteCristo,in whichO'Neillhadappearedon stagemore CAST:James O'Neill (EdmundDantes). than 4,000 times! To direct, photograph and edit the film, Edwin S. Porter, a good, solidtechnician buta man who at SYNOPSIS: Between book covers, on the stage and on this stage of his career had little flair for anything new or film, Dumas's classic storyofretribution is oneofthe great innovative, was lured away from the Rex Company. In the melodramas of the world. Because the sailor Edmund meantime, theSeligCompany hurriedly filmed a three-reel Dantes has honored the dying request of his captain to version of The Count, featuring Hobart Bosworth under carry a private letter to Napoleon on Elba, it becomes the direction of Colin Campbell, and rather than compete possible for Fernand, who loves Edmund's wife Mercedes, with Selig, Zukor temporarily shelved his production, and to have him arrested and imprisoned in the Chateau d'If. commenced on two further features. ThePrisonerofZenda Through years of weary labor, he cuts his way through the with James K. Hackett and Tess oftheD'Urbervilles with wall, to find that instead of attaining freedom, he has only MinnieMaddern Fiske. joined the Abbe Faria, who was doing the samething from When The Count ofMonte Cristo was finally released, the other side. When the Abbe dies, after having given the anonymous critic of The Moving Picture World Dantesa chartshowingthelocationof fabulous treasure on (November 1, 1913) proclaimed that the Dumas story was the Isle of Monte Cristo, the latter escapes from prison by "now presented in the universal language of the pictures. taking the Abbe's place in his burial sack and causing ... All the hopes and despairs experienced by the honest himselfto be cast into thesea. He is rescued and possesses sailor lad whom fate torments and tortures, all his dreams himselfofthe treasure. Pursuant to his exultant cry "The and desires and defeats, are typified by Mr. O'Neill's world is mine!," he disguises himself and returns to vigorous art until they develop into a semblance of the France, where he rewards his friends and disposes of his moving emotions that Dumas intended to weave into the three great enemies, clocking them off as "One!" "Two!" story, and with which he so capably succeeded in sur "Three!," and is reunitedwith Mercedes. rounding his character." Although O'Neill looks much too old and paunchy for the role, he does acquit himselfwell, COMMENTARY: In the Springof 1912, a furrier turned particularly in the duelingscenewith whichthe film closes. film exhibitor by the name of Adolph Zukor formed the The painted backdrops are a little too much in evidence, Famous Players Film Company, in association with but exterior scenes are not completely forgotten, and, theatrical producerDanielFrohman. Despiteacquiringthe despite its melodramatics,there isstillsomethingquite im U.S. rights to the French production of Queen Elizabeth pressive about the scene in which Dantes declares "The starring Sarah Bernhardt, and despite the company's an world is mine!," with O'Neill standing on a wave-washed nouncement that it was to produce only four-reel features rock, silhouetted againstthesky. starring major Broadway personalities—at a time when It is, of course, because of Eugene O'Neill and Long virtually all the licensed motion-picture producers were Day's Journey into Night that the film holds interest to turning out one- and two-reelers—the Famous Players day. It seems highly probable that O'Neill studied his Film Company aroused little interest in the industry. Its father's performance while workingon his masterwork, for competitors were to regret their lack of concern, for Zukor theson retaineda printofthe film all his life. (A.S.)