Thanhouser Company trademark: a T and C monogram inside an octagonTHANHOUSERCompany Film PreservationBuy DVDs

1914PrincessOne reelComedy

The Grand Passion

No copy you can watch online. No print is known to survive. What follows is what does: the release, the cast, the story, and what the trade press said at the time.

The story

“Boyd secretly loves Muriel, whose preference is Joe, and upon her birthday the office force presents her with a lavaliere, while Boyd’s gift is a flower. Enthused at the gift she wants to kiss everybody, but Boyd, knowing that a kiss from her would mean a lot to him, refrains from taking a kiss so lightly given. The crowd looks on his action as an insult to Muriel and bind him while Muriel kisses him thrice, and with the last kiss goes the hate of a woman’s scorn. His flowery gift to her is used to slap his face after the third kiss. Enraged, the crowd starts to assault Boyd, taking their cue from Muriel’s treatment, but she prevents. Later, with hope and spirit crushed, Boyd takes to drink, and, leaving the bar room, falls and his head is injured. When he recovers his mind is a blank, and it is only when Muriel insists that the scene of the birthday kissing be enacted that his memory is restored.”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 21 March 1914

Another synopsis, from Reel Life · 14 March 19141 min

“The office force of the firm where Muriel has a responsible position present her with a lavaliere on her birthday. Muriel is secretly loved by Boyd, an employee. Boyd gives her a flower. When Muriel lightly starts in to kiss the entire office force for their kindness, Boyd, alone, refuses to be kissed. The office force resents his attitude toward their employer and playfully bind him so that Muriel can kiss him to her heart’s content. Muriel does not understand that Boyd has refused her kiss because he felt that such a caress should not be given lightly, and when he is securely pinioned, kisses him thrice with disdain. She then slaps his face with the single flower he has given her. Crushed by her rebuff, Boyd takes to drink and is hurt when he stumbles from a barroom into the street. When he recovers, his memory has left him. Muriel, who has nursed him during his illness, is able to bring him back to a consciousness of past events only by re-enacting the birthday kissing scene.”

What the papers said

3 reviews

“Once upon a time a gentleman by the name of Shakespeare penned a little thing called Much Ado About Nothing, and that is just what The Grand Passion is. Of course, since it is a farce, the more ado there is, the better, and Morris Foster as Boyd manages to create quite a bit of excitement in Muriel’s office when …

Read in full · 1 min

“Once upon a time a gentleman by the name of Shakespeare penned a little thing called Much Ado About Nothing, and that is just what The Grand Passion is. Of course, since it is a farce, the more ado there is, the better, and Morris Foster as Boyd manages to create quite a bit of excitement in Muriel’s office when she attempts to kiss the force (himself included) on her birthday. Anybody that refuses to let Muriel Ostriche kiss him deserves all he gets. Hurt by her flippant way of looking at things, which he thinks very serious, he takes to drink. Then he loses his memory. But she brings back his wandering memory by the re-enacting of the kissing scene. For the benefit of those interested in whom Muriel kisses it might be just as well to say that this time he doesn’t rebel, but takes her in his arms and they live happily ever after. The cast includes in addition to the two principals, Fannie Bourke and Nolan Gane.”

The Morning Telegraph · 22 March 1914

“In the early part of this offering there is a picture of a supersensitive lover that gets over strongly and is humanly convincing; but there is so much downright foolishness in the story’s development that, as an offering, we are afraid to commend it. We feel sure that it will fail of popularity.”

The Moving Picture World · 4 April 1914

More reviews

8 April 1914The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

“The hero of this film is a strange young man. When the girl of his dreams kisses him before a crowd of their fellow office workers, his ideals are so badly shattered that he leaves town and seeks solace in drink. He believes that his ideal of womanhood made light of that ever sacred thing—a kiss. Injured in an accident, he loses his memory, but eventually the girl restores it by re-enacting the kissing scene in the office. From this suggestion of the plot, the character of the story may be gathered. Muriel Ostriche appears well as the girl, and other parts are properly cast. The photography gives a clear reproduction of simple settings.”

Have you seen this film, or a print of it?

Prints of films thought lost still turn up in attics, private collections and archives. A record like this one is how the next one gets found.

Tell us about a print

Cast and crew

Cast
Fan Bourke as Fanny, a woman of the streets
James Dunne
J. Morris Foster as Boyd, secretly in love with Muriel
Mrs. Minnie McCoy
Muriel Ostriche as as Muriel
Nolan Gane as Joe, whom Muriel prefers
Writer
John William Kellette

Every name opens that person's page, with each film they appear in and which of them you can watch.

Watch instead

Films you can watch from the same company

Matched by cast, director and kind
A frame from The Farmer’s Daughters15:36
1913 · Same castThe Farmer’s Daughters
A frame from A Dog’s Love11:12
1914 · Same leadA Dog’s Love
A frame from Their Best Friend16:03
1914 · Same castTheir Best Friend

More about this film

Bowers’ notes
  1. Reel Life and other trade publications assign Morris Foster to the role of “Boyd, secretly in love with Muriel.” This is a strange juxtaposition in view of the fact that Boyd Marshall was Muriel Ostriche’s leading man at the time. One would think that Morris Foster would have been given a different screen name. 2. A Princess advertisement for this film (Reel Life, March 14, 1914) noted: “A REAL INNOVATION. The Princess Company, New Rochelle, N.Y., Institutes the ‘Traveling Star’ System (Presenting the Princess Players in association with leading Players from other companies). The first time for this system in motion pictures!...See the Princess Favorites as they ‘line up’ with your other New Rochelle favorites!”

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1914 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “The Grand Passion”. thanhouser.org/films/the-grand-passion/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known