In an archive1911Thanhouser Company1,000 feetLiterary adaptation

Young Lochinvar

Name: Young Lochinvar
Genre: Literary adaptation
Released: 1911-09-26

Also released as Lochinvar

No copy you can watch online. A print survives in an archive but has not been digitised, so what follows is the record rather than the film.

The story

“Sir Walter Scott has given the world many heroes, but the one who will live the longest is young Lochinvar, ‘who came out of the West,’ for Lochinvar was one of those heroes who knew when he saw what he wanted, went and got it, and did not bother asking anyone to help him. He was self-reliant and energetic, and it was not strange that the ‘fair Ellen’ loved him, or that her kinsmen hated him. The poem tells how ‘the fair Ellen’ was forced by her parents to consent to marry a man so despicable and generally valueless that he was not even given a name. He was simply described as ‘a dastard in love,’ and ‘a laggard in war,’ and it is not remarkable that the fair Ellen objected as vigorously as possible. When young Lochinvar heard the news, he started ‘all alone’ for the home of the fair Ellen, and arrived just as the wedding was about to be celebrated. The Netherby clan, kinsmen of the bride, seeing that he had no followers, were disposed to be not aggressive. Lochinvar told them that ‘Now I am come, with this lost love of mine, to dance but one measure, drink one cup of wine.’

“This seemed an easy way to prevent trouble, the bride’s father agreed. During the dance Lochinvar managed to explain to the girl that his horse was outside and asked her to elope with him. She took one more look at ‘the dastard in love,’ who was not an inspiring spectacle, and considered. Then the couple danced to the door, and out, leaped on the horse and sped away before the Netherby clan realized what had happened. And they never saw their fair Ellen again, for she became the happy bride of Lochinvar. History does not tell what happened to the ‘dastard’ who was tricked out of a bride at the very altar. The chances are that he was exceedingly unpopular, in his neighborhood, unless he made that a foreign one.”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 16 September 1911

Background of the scenario

Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to an attorney and writer to the Signet. He was educated at Edinburgh High School and University and apprenticed to his father. In 1792 he was called to the bar, at which time he was devoting much of his time to the exploration of the border country. Scott was first published in 1796. In 1798 he married Charlotte Carpenter. He was sheriff-deputy of Selkirkshire in 1799. He published poetry, including The Lay of the Last Minstrel, Lady of the Lake, and other popular verses, and became a partner in James Ballantyne’s printing and book-selling businesses. For the next few years he contributed to many periodicals, and in 1813 was offered the position of poet laureate, which he turned down in recommendation of Robert Southey. By 1814 Scott concentrated on writing novels, and anonymously published one or more a year for the rest of his life, including Ivanhoe in 1819. He became a baronet in 1818. In 1827 he admitted authorship to all his novels. Scott’s works had a great influence on all writers of the time, and he is also credited with establishing the form of the historical novel. Scott died in 1832, following five life-sapping strokes, by which time he had nearly recovered from great debts due to unwise business ventures.

“Lochinvar,” published in 1808, is part of a long narrative poem titled Marmion, became very popular and was a main contributor to his fame. The verse told of young Lochinvar who came to fair Ellen as she was about to be married in a pretentious ceremony to “a laggard in love and a dastard in war.” With family and attendants looking on, Lochinvar whispered a word or two into Ellen’s ear, lifted her up, and on horseback left the wedding ceremony behind, presumably headed toward a life of happiness.

What the papers said

3 reviews · 1 advertisement

Read in full · 1 min

“To present a poem in photoplay form is usually a daring project, for, generally speaking, attempts of the sort are not as successful as might be wished for. Here the Thanhouser Company has made such an effort and has succeeded far beyond the anticipations of the writer, who looked forward to the presentation with some misgivings. It is a remarkably fine production, staged amid scenes that could not have been selected with more appropriateness, the castle being wonderfully realistic and harmonious, the gardens, forest, roadways, by paths and environs all completing a series of pictures that reflect the good judgment and conception of the director. The interiors are adequate, though not especially remarkable. Especial praise is due the makers for the costuming and manner of presenting the minor effects, such as the saddles of the horses, which are draped as in olden days. The story is easily told, frequent quotations of the poem adding to the relation, though it would have been comprehended with hardly a line of print. The tale is so familiar that it is unnecessary to repeat it here. We trust the Thanhouser Company will continue along this trend, for so far each of their poetical and dramatic reproductions of historical and familiar works have been exceedingly praiseworthy.”

The Morning Telegraph · 1 October 1911

“The Thanhouser Company has found astonishingly realistic background for this romantic of the Scottish borderlands. The old ballad is well known. The picture tells of the Scottish boy who ‘came out of the West’ and ran off with a bride. It is a well acted, skillfully made picture and commendable.”

The Moving Picture World · 7 October 1911

More reviews

4 October 1911The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

“There is a sweep and a vigorous dash of romance to this exceptionally artistic illustration of this famous poem by Scott that is altogether delightful. It is costumed with care and played around backgrounds that convincingly suggest the period, while the movement of the scenario is smooth, concise, and dramatic, following as it does very closely the action of the poem. Lochinvar and his lady were ably represented. He is seen, as the poem relates, fording the stream, breaking into the wedding, drinking the last glass of wine, dancing the last dance that dances him to the door and to his steed; then away to the priest who marries them.”

16 September 1911The Moving Picture World1 min

“This is the original ‘man who took a chance,’ made immortal by Sir Walter Scott, who in a more aesthetic lexicon of this period has impressed on us the fact that he knows a good sport when he sees one. This chap Lochinvar wanted a certain lady to be his partner for life. Things didn’t break well for him, and the night of her marriage another man arrived. Did Lochinvar figure that it was all over? No, siree! Did he just give up and lose? No, he took a chance at the last second, and be dum-squizzled if he didn’t win out, at that!”