Old Jane of the Gaiety

Old Jane of the Gaiety

(One reel of approximately 1,000 feet, July 18, 1915)
Print source: Library of Congress, 15 minutes 49 seconds.
Cast: Ethyle Cooke (“Old Jane,” theater wardrobe woman), Grace DeCarlton (Mary, a chorus girl), Jay Yorke (Jack, her sweetheart), Winifred Lane (Daisy), Morgan Niblack (Gilbertson), Janet Henry (Fay), Justice D. Barnes (choreographer), George Barnes.
Original music composed and performed by Ben Model.

Old Jane, the wardrobe woman, is an institution at the Gaiety Theatre. She keeps a watchful eye on the younger girls, especially little Nina Fagnant, a serious child with genuine ability.

By July 1915 the studio was again benefitting from the management of Edwin Thanhouser. A good example is Old Jane of the Gaiety, a well-written and well-directed backstage drama with visual panache. The wardrobe lady, Old Jane, counsels the new chorus girl, who is being wooed by a stage-door Johnny while her boyfriend tries to “save” her from theater life. The crisply-paced narrative, complete with flashbacks, has strong pictorial interest emphasizing front/back staging and creative camera placement.