Volume II: Filmography

THE TURNING OF THE ROAD

Working title: OUT OF THE SHADOWS

Alternate working title: FROM THE SHADOWS

November 3, 1914 (Tuesday)

Length: 2 reels (1,583 feet)

Character: Drama

Director: Carroll Fleming

Scenario: Elizabeth Gaskins

Cast: Muriel Ostriche (Della Fletcher), John Reinhard (Sidney Burdett), Ethyle Cooke Benham (Burdett's wife), Frank Wood (Rev. Edgar Raymond), Ernest C. Warde (Bill Kent), Carey L. Hastings (Mrs. Raymond), Arthur Bauer (the doctor), Perry Horton (the chauffeur), John Wood

Notes: 1. Out of the Shadows, the working title of the present film, was used earlier in the year as the title of a Thanhouser release of June 2, 1914, featuring Irving Cummings and Florence LaBadie. From the Shadows, a working title of the present film, was also a working title for Out of the Shadows. 2. In a note about Out of the Shadows (the working title of the present film) in The Moving Picture World, October 24, 1914, John Wood is listed as a cast member. 3. In The Moving Picture World, November 14, 1914, Ernest C. Warde's name is listed erroneously as Ernest C. Wood. 4. Elizabeth Gaskins, who wrote the scenario for this film, lived in Denver, Colorado. Most other writers for Thanhouser films lived in or near New Rochelle. 5. The production of this film was begun toward the end of the week of September 14, 1914.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, November 7, 1914:

"This is a powerful drama of society life. It portrays the actions of a band of thieves who work among the best of society. A member of the band - Della Fletcher - is the character around which the plot revolves. Her stealing of the gems and her ultimate reformation and marriage to a handsome rector form a basis for many tense scenes. She is led by love out of the shadows into the light and the turning of a new road. The cast includes Muriel Ostriche, Frank Woods, John Reinhard, Ethyle Cooke, Ernest Warde, Carey Hastings, Arthur Bauer, Perry Horton."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, October 17, 1914:

"Della Fletcher and Bill Kent go to a fashionable hotel at the beach, bent on robbing wealthy Mrs. Burdett of her jewels. Here Della meets the Rev. Edgar Raymond, a young rector, who becomes interested in her, paying her marked attention. Filled with new dreams, and thoroughly ashamed of her past, Della tells Kent that she intends to reform. He reminds her of the gang's motto - 'Dead men tell no tales' - and threatens that if she withdraws she will have to pay the penalty. She pleads with him, and finally he agrees to let her go, provided she will help pull off the job in hand. The following day, Della succeeds in stealing Mrs. Burdett's gems. To avoid detection, however, she is obliged to take refuge in an adjoining room which chances to be the rector's She drops the jewelry into an empty satchel of his, and escapes. Raymond returns. He has just time to catch a train which is to take him home to his sick mother. He throws a few things into the satchel and rushes off. Della and Kent, who is very angry at the gems being in another's hands, pursue the rector in an automobile. In the city, Della succeeds by a ruse in gaining entrance to the rector's house. He listens to her story of having been robbed of her purse and invites her to stay there until she can communicate with friends. However, she cannot bring herself to smuggle the gems to Kent. He breaks in, taking the jewels from her by force. Raymond and a doctor enter just in time to rescue Della and to capture the thief. The girl remains as companion to Raymond's invalid mother."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, November 1, 1914:

"A young confidence worker and thief falls in love with her youthful rector and his influence brings her from the paths of sin. Her accomplice is captured and she remains at the minister's house as companion to his invalid mother."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, November 14, 1914:

"In this two-reel number Muriel Ostriche plays the daughter of a gentleman crook. The opening scenes at the big hotel are attractive. The girl is induced by her father to steal the jewels, which she hides in the minister's grip. The later invasion in the minister's home holds the interest well. In the end she confesses her deception, the father is captured, and the girl marries the minister. This is not a powerful story, but it is an attractive one and handles its familiar subject matter in an entertaining way."

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