Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
Production still courtesy Dominick Bruzzese. (F-862)
July 18, 1915 (Sunday)
Length: 1 reel
Character: Drama
Cast: Ethyle Cooke ("Old Jane," theatre wardrobe woman), Grace DeCarlton (Mary, a chorus girl), Jay Yorke (Jack, her sweetheart), Winifred Lane (Daisy), Morgan Niblack (Gilbertson), Janet Henry (Fay), George Barnes
Note: Reel Life identifies Grace DeCarlton's role as "Nina," but in the film itself her character is named Mary. The same publication identifies her sweetheart as "Ned Munson," but in the film he is named Jack. Ethyle Cooke played Jane as an older woman; a different actress portrayed her as a young lady.
ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, July 17, 1915:
"The most lowly of stage-folk has been brought into the limelight. Ethyle Cooke is the regular good-soul old theatrical wardrobe woman, and Grace DeCarlton is a new little chorus girl in the company. The kindness of the experienced wardrobe woman saves the little tindrel from the usual fate that goes with the cold bottle and the bird. The warmth and sympathy of this production make it a certain winner."
SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, July 17, 1915:
"Old Jane, the wardrobe woman, is an institution at the Gaiety Theatre. She keeps a watchful eye on the younger girls, and especially, she mothers little Nina Fagnant, a serious child with genuine ability. On the opening night, Nina attracts the attention of Gilbertson, a man about town, who sends a note back stage inviting Nina and two of her friends to supper. 'Old Jane' knows that Ned Munson, a young clerk, is in love with Nina and wishes to marry her. She takes the girl aside and tells her the story of her own life. Jane, in the first flush of triumph on the stage, had given up the country boy who loved her. But after a few years, she found herself passé, while her sweetheart, meanwhile, had married another. Never had she ceased to regret her folly. Nina takes the story to heart. She leaves the theatrical profession and makes Ned happy."
MODERN SYNOPSIS
(From surviving print)
(Library of Congress)
THE NEW CHORUS GIRL ATTENDS HER FIRST REHEARSAL
The scene is of a rehearsal with chorus girls and a director. The girls practice in a chorus line. The director singles out a girl, later identified as Mary, and watches her dance.
"SAY - STICK TO THIS BUSINESS, KID, YOU WERE BORN FOR IT"
The director puts his hand on Mary's shoulder and talks admiringly to her.
OLD JANE, THE WARDROBE WOMAN, DISTRIBUTES THE COSTUMES
Jane, an older woman, passes out costumes to the chorus girls.
"YOU'RE NEW HERE, MY DEAR"
Mary is given a fur costume. Other girls present their requisition slips as well and receive either a fur costume or a uniform.
ON THE OPENING NIGHT
Jane coaches Mary in her dressing room. Then the scene shifts to backstage (behind a drop stenciled "PROPERTY OF LEE LASH STUDIOS," located at 13th and Broadway, New York City). The curtain goes up. The chorus girls arrange themselves in two rows on stage, with those in fur costumes in the front row and those with uniforms in the rear.
AFTER THE PERFORMANCE
Jane comes to the dressing room and congratulates Mary. Outside the stage door a pompous man, dressed in a top hat, smoking a cigarette, and holding flowers, arrives in a chauffeured automobile. He tips the stage manager to deliver the flowers and a note.
The scene shifts back to the dressing room. Jane talks with Mary and then leaves.
The stage manager gives Jane the pompous man's flowers and asks her to deliver them to Mary. The card with the flowers is addressed to: "The little chicken at the end of the line with the rose in her hair." The note with the flowers reads: "Will you and two of your pals come to a real supper? All the birds and bottles you want. I'll be at the stage door."
The other girls gather around Mary, hoping she will select them to be her companions. Old Jane shakes her head in disapproval.
The stage manager comes out the side door and sees that the pompous man is still there, and that another admirer has also arrived - also with a note for Mary.
The scene changes back to the dressing room, where Mary has picked out two girls to accompany her to the "real supper." The second admirer's note is delivered, and reads:
"Mary,
"I am waiting to take you home. This is no life for you. You shall be my wife as you promised.
"Jack"
Mary, in a quandary, throws Jack's note away. With her two companions she gets ready to leave for an evening of fun.
Old Jane finds the crumpled note Mary has tossed away, and opens and reads it, then shakes her head sadly.
"COULD YOU STAY JUST A MINUTE OR TWO TO TALK TO OLD JANE?"
Jane bids the two other girls to leave, while Mary remains behind. The two girls go to the stage door, where the pompous man, puffing on a cigarette, is waiting. They greet him with delight.
In the meantime, in the dressing room, Old Jane talks with Mary.
"I WASN'T ALWAYS 'OLD JANE,' I USED TO BE 'LITTLE JANIE'"
Their talk continues, then the scene flashes back to years earlier, when Jane left her sweetheart behind and went on stage.
"THEN I TOO WENT ON THE STAGE AND HAD MY LITTLE TRIUMPH"
Their talk continues, the scene flashes back to 'Little Janie' dancing on the stage years earlier. After the performance, many bouquets of flowers are given to her.
"BUT YOUTH DOESN'T LAST LONG WHEN YOU GO THE PACE"
Their talk continues, then the scene flashes back to "Little Janie" being wined and dined after a performance. Janie, drunk, dances on a restaurant table, much to the amusement of her onlookers. She then becomes ill and is taken away.
"I WENT HOME, BROKEN IN SPIRIT, TO FIND THE MAN I LOVED MARRIED TO ANOTHER"
Their talk continues, then the scene flashes back to Janie's sad homecoming years earlier.
Then their talk continues once again.
"YESTERDAY I SAW HIM ON THE STREET WITH HIS FAMILY - HE DIDN'T RECOGNIZE ME"
Their talk continues, then the scene shifts to a street, where Old Jane encounters her former lover, who is with his family.
Old Jane talks on, and Mary becomes tearful.
"DON'T SACRIFICE LIFE'S HAPPINESS FOR THE PLEASURE OF A MOMENT"
Their talk continues. The scene changes to the stage door, where the pompous man and the two chorus girls are still waiting for Mary to arrive.
"GO AND SEE WHAT'S KEEPING THAT LITTLE CHICKEN"
The two girls come back to the dressing room to get Mary, and they see Old Jane and Mary deep in conversation.
"GO ON WITHOUT ME - I'VE CHANGED MY MIND"
Mary and Old Jane hug each other, and the two chorus girls return to the man at the stage door. The pompous man, with a girl on each side, goes off in his chauffeured automobile, laughing.
Meanwhile, at the stage door Jack, her old suitor, waits disconsolately. Old Jane and Mary put on their coats and leave the dressing room. They go to to the stage door, where Mary embraces Jack, as Old Jane looks on. Old Jane wipes a tear from her eye.
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.