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1915PrincessOne reelComedy

When Fate Rebelled

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

“Alice Roland is deeply in love with John Reynolds, cashier for a large firm, and on one occasion she accompanies him on one of his trips into the country to pay off employees. It happens that on this particular day the bag containing the pay budget is stolen from the automobile, and Reynolds suspects Alice of the theft. On reporting the loss, the young cashier is discharged. Alice, determined to clear her lover’s name and to prove to him how he has misjudged her, has her suspicions diverted to a certain George Rawlings, a rival for her love whom she finds is by no means well disposed toward Reynolds. She succeeds in discovering that Rawlings is the head of a band of crooks, and, tracing him to their headquarters, she finds and recovers there the lost bag of money. The taxicab in which she is making her escape, however, is overtaken by the gang. Only the timely arrival of Reynolds and the police save Alice. The thieves and Rawlings are arrested, the money returned to the firm, and the girl’s heroism is amply rewarded by her penitent lover’s redoubled devotion.”

Summary from Reel Life · 26 December 1914

What the papers said

3 reviews

“To save her lover who had been charged for stealing the bank’s funds and to show him how he has misjudged her in thinking her guilty, Alice tracks the real criminals to earth, recovers the money, and is rewarded by the penitent’s redoubled devotion.”

The Morning Telegraph · 27 December 1914

“A great deal that is interesting will be found in this film, with Muriel Ostriche, Marshall Boyd, and Frank Wood handling the main characters. The story treats of how a young woman taking a trip with her lover, who is paymaster of a large manufacturing concern, when he goes to pay the workmen, through a scheming of a rival, bears the reflection of the theft. Afterward rescues the satchel with the money, which incident allows for several thrilling scenes.”

The Moving Picture World · 16 January 1915

More reviews

6 January 1915The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

“By no means an unusual melodrama; but one that profits by a few scenes which may be considered exciting. Of two admirers, Alice prefers Reynolds, thereby incurring the enmity of Rawlings, the other suitor, who by profession is the leader of a band of crooks. Alice is in the automobile with Reynolds when the money he is carrying for payroll is stolen. He accuses his companion, and it remains for her to trace the theft to Rawlings and his gang. Before the thieves are captured there is an automobile chase accompanied by much shooting. Muriel Ostriche makes an attractive heroine, and she is given adequate support by Boyd Marshall and Frank Wood.”

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Cast and crew

Director
Jack Harvey
Cast
Boyd Marshall as John Reynolds
Frank Wood as George Rawlings
Madeline Fairbanks
Marion Fairbanks
Muriel Ostriche as Alice Roland

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

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes
  1. This film was originally scheduled for release on December 18, 1914, then rescheduled to December 25, 1914, then actually released on January 1, 1915. Various publications, The New York Dramatic Mirror for example, printed the original schedule without revision. 2. In an article about John William Kellette, in The Moving Picture World, February 12, 1916, a number of films for which Kellette wrote the scenarios are listed. When May Rebelled is among them. The author assumes that “May” was a typographical error, and that “Fate” was intended; otherwise, this script may have been written by Jack Harvey alone, without the involvement of Kellette.

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1915 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “When Fate Rebelled”. thanhouser.org/films/when-fate-rebelled/

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