Lost1913Thanhouser CompanyOne reelRomance

The Widow’s Stratagem

Name: The Widow’s Stratagem
Genre: Romance
Released: 1913-05-02

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

The doctor diagnosed the wealthy widow’s case as ‘too much society.’ He ordered that she leave the city for the summer, and spend at least a couple of months in some quiet farm house. With many sighs the order was obeyed, and the woman soon found herself the paying guest of a country woman far from civilization. At first, time hung heavily on the visitor’s hands, but she soon learned to reconcile herself to her surroundings. The fare was plain but good. She passed many happy hours sketching, and, lastly, there was a ‘mighty nice boy’ who came over almost daily to chat with her. The widow was young and beautiful, but she never dreamed for a moment of falling in love with a youthful farmer. He, however, was dazzled by the style and beauty of the city resident and soon was paying much attention to her.

For some little time the widow did not know that she was causing sorrow for another. Her hostess had a daughter, an awkward country girl, and one day this girl confronted the widow. She told her that the young farmer had been her sweetheart, but was now being won away and dropping on her knees she pleaded ‘Don’t take him away, he is all I have.’ The blasé city woman’s heart was touched. She felt for the poor little girl who had so few joys in life, and tenderly promised her that she would nip the undesired romance in the bud. She did, but the farmer never realized how it was accomplished. He simply found that the woman he had been admiring was not so beautiful as he had first believed, that she was course and common, and so almost insensibly he ceased to care for her and drifted back to the one who steadfastly loved him. The widow returned to the city, her health fully restored, and again assumed her position in society. The country girl married the man of her choice and always realized that she owed her happiness to the success of the widow’s stratagem.

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 3 May 1913

What the papers said

2 reviews · 1 article · 1 advertisement

Good photography helps along this light summer story. The rich young widow attracts a heroine’s lover, but when she sees that this will break the girl’s heart, she proceeds to discourage the young man’s attentions. To do this she dresses as a frump and succeeds in disillusioning him. A clever little plot, well acted and artistically pictured. A pleasing offering.

The Moving Picture World · 10 May 1913

Read in full · 1 min

There is a genuine charm to this picture drama, which is maturely aided by good acting and artistic photography. The play is very clearly and crisply told also. The story itself is slight. A young country fellow is in love with a pretty girl, but he falls under the fascination of a handsome widow, who boards in the country for the summer. When the girl goes to the widow in tears to plead for her love, the widow cures the young man of his infatuation by giving him a glimpse of femininity without the lures which come from the drug store and the coiffure specialist. This is a bit overdone. So the young man goes back to his old sweetheart. The boat scenes are prettily done. It is a slender little play that appeals.

The New York Dramatic Mirror · 7 May 1913

Article

3 May 1913The Moving Picture World1 min

A NEW FILM VIEW OF CITYGIRL. In the film Citygirl is almost always shown as a heartbreaker without heart. Countrygirl, on the other hand, has come into celluloid notice as a confiding, affectionate creature who loves as she is loved. Citygirl heartless, that is—Countrygirl loving. Just watch the screen! But Thanhouser upsets the film tradition in a story of a young farmer who is won from his Countrygirl by a Citygirl, who is in the country on a vacation. In her grief, Countrygirl goes to the victorious Citygirl with her story of the sweetheart lost. And to assist the Countrygirl to win back the man, the Citygirl fools him into thinking her (the Citygirl) a totally unrefined and undesirable creature, whereupon he immediately renounces her! So he weds the Countrygirl. This story of a Citygirl’s ‘heartlessness,’ is released Friday, May 2, under the title of The Widow’s Stratagem.

3 May 1913The Moving Picture World1 min

She appealed mightily to the young farmer. She was from the city, you see, and there was a city charm to her that was new and irresistible to him. But the coldness of the city was not with her when his first love came and asked her to give him back; indeed, her stratagem was simply in aid of this country girl rival.