Volume II: Filmography

MC CARN PLAYS FATE

(Thanhouser-Reliance)

August 18, 1914 (Tuesday)

Length: 2 reels (2,010 feet)

Character: Drama

Director: John Adolphi

Scenario: Adapted from one of Henry Oyen's stories

Cast: Thomas O'Brien ("Bull" Klein), Irene Hunt (Klein's wife), F.A. Kelsey (Detective McCarn), Frank Bennett ("Squint" Leary), and other Reliance players

Notes: 1. This was made as a Reliance film, by John Adolphi, a Reliance director, and featured Reliance players. However, it was issued by Thanhouser under the Thanhouser trademark. 2. Perhaps to conceal its Reliance origin, the synopsis of this film in Reel Life, billed as a Thanhouser release, was not accompanied by the usual cast listing. However, Thanhouser advertising (in Reel Life, August 22, 1914, for example) reads: "A two-reel detective story, featuring F.A. Kelsey, Frank Bennett and A.E. [sic] O'Brien."

BACKGROUND OF THE SCENARIO: Olaf Henry Oyen (1883-1921) was born in Norway and came to America with his parents a year after his birth. Following education in the public schools, he worked for the Chicago Tribune as a reporter and editorial writer from 1904 to 1910, after which he relocated to Long Island and wrote numerous freelance pieces. His major work of fiction produced before 1914 was Joey the Dreamer, a 1911 novel.

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, August 8, 1914:

"McCarn, a veteran police detective, has a protegé, Anderson, a young patrolman. Anderson captures 'Bull' Klein, a noted crook, but through the influence of friends Klein is released. Later, however, McCarn arrests Klein and he is sent to prison. When he gets out, he plans to revenge himself. McCarn is advised that Klein intends to fake a fight in the saloon so that when Anderson interferes they can put him out of the way. By a clever ruse, McCarn succeeds in turning Klein and his accomplice against one another. Anderson escapes the trap laid for him, and the two crooks are brought to justice."

REVIEW, The Bioscope, November 5, 1914:

"Although we are aware that there is certain prejudice amongst some people against plays based upon social conditions essentially different from those of this country, we ourselves have frequently found this type of film more than usually full of interest. One of the great charms of the picture play lies in its power to bring before us with vivid realism not only the landscapes but the actual life of other lands, and it has truly been said in this connection that good cinematograph stories are even more educational that avowedly didactic films. McCarn Plays Fate is a little drama graphically illustrating the extent to which criminal intrigue by local politicians is possible in some American cities. We have all heard of the political corruption which seems to have eaten like a canker into the social organization of the United States, and this film gives of this strange phenomenon in the life of a great country, a far more realistic and accurate idea than could be accomplished in reams of newspaper descriptions.

"Although to our mind this is considerably the most interesting aspect of the film, it should be pointed out that McCarn Plays Fate is not merely a political treatise, but is primarily a very strong drama which is notable for the magnificently natural and powerful manner in which it is acted. In its way, we have never seen a finer performance than Mr. Kelsey's Detective McCarn. It is realistic up to the point of brutality, but it grips one's attention by its sheer force, and is as convincing as it could be. Almost equally good are Messrs. O'Brien and Bennett, as two members of the American criminal classes, whilst all those playing smaller parts merit similar praise. The characterisation of the story is so strikingly vivid that it renders the plot almost a secondary consideration. It should be said, however, that the tale is quite an effective one, that it is logically developed, and that it introduces incidentally one of the most thrilling fights yet beheld on the screen. McCarn Plays Fate is a 'real' detective story, as opposed to the many absurd melodramas purporting to deal with the detection of crime. It is powerful, exciting and realistic, and of its kind quite a masterpiece of acting. It deserves to be very successful."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, August 16, 1914:

"McCarn, a veteran police detective, has a protegé, Anderson, a young patrolman.... [here continues a verbatim recitation of the official plot synopsis]."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, August 29, 1914:

"A two-reel detective photoplay from the story written by Henry Oyen. F.A. Kelsey, Irene Hunt, and Thomas O'Brien are in the cast. The photography is very good throughout. This deals with a gang of political gunmen and winds up with a fatal brawl in the saloon. The detective in the case, learning that the gunmen are laying for a certain officer, frames up things so they shoot each other by mistake. The fighting is dramatic and well staged. The production as a whole deals with rough city life, but it will hold the attention of the average observer."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, August 26, 1914:

"Although released under the Thanhouser trademark this two-reel melodrama is not the work of the New Rochelle players. Irene Hunt, Thomas O'Brien, and other players associated with the Reliance films are included in the cast of a crook story dealing with the adventures of a detective, McCarn, and his youthful blue-coated protegé, Anderson. In a continued battle of wits, guns and physical strength, 'Bull' Klein and his gangster confederates are pitted against the upholders of the law. McCarn in time outwits the gang members by causing jealousy over a woman. The 'framed up' fight in which the thugs propose to 'get' Anderson ends with the death of Klein and the man of whom he is jealous. The picture is filled with barroom brawls, rapid gunplay, and the style of incident one expects in underworld melodrama. No audience will accuse it of lacking 'punch.'"

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