Volume II: Filmography

A MESSENGER OF GLADNESS

November 22, 1914 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel (564 feet this section) (split with Nature's Celebrities at the end)

Character: Comedy-drama

Scenario: Philip Lonergan

Cast: Helen Badgley (Little Helen), Harris Gordon (Mr. Smith, Helen's father), Ethyle Cooke (Mrs. Smith, Helen's mother), Reenie Farrington (Helen's nurse), Nolan Gane (Jack, a young man), Minnie Berlin (Marie, Jack's former sweetheart), N.S. Woods (Jenkins, who is bankrupt), Arthur Bauer (Sims, a successful rival), David H. Thompson (Graham, a dissipated workman), Ethel Jewett (Graham's wife), Joe Phillips (prison keeper), Frank Wood (George Parker, an ex-jailbird), Morgan Jones (George's father), Mrs. Fairbanks (Mrs. Parker, George's mother), Riley Chamberlin (Helen's grandfather), Carey L. Hastings (Helen's grandmother), Muriel Ostriche, Lydia Mead, J.S. Murray

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, November 14, 1914:

"Helen's parents had taught her that Thanksgiving Day was a day when everybody should be happy and friendly. So, Thanksgiving morning she took a walk to see just how she could help the world live up to the spirit of the occasion. Very observant, and full of quaint sympathy for everybody she met, she did a lot of good in that little journey, and this is why so many people had to act with her in this film - for most of the names are those of persons whom Helen helped to be happy and better and more kindly to one another, on the thankfulest day of the year. Then the little 'messenger of gladness' went home to mother and father, grandfather and grandmother - and a delicious Thanksgiving dinner."

REVIEW, The Bioscope, March 4, 1915:

"It is a remarkable achievement for a young woman some five years or so of age to become a real 'star' actress, and yet it cannot be denied that this unusual feat has been accomplished by Helen Badgley, the dear little child actress of the Thanhouser Company. It is even more remarkable that so youthful a player should attain to so lofty an eminence in her profession without suffering in the least from the precocity which mars the work of many infant prodigies. The charm of Helen Badgley is largely that she has remained entirely unspoiled by the unusual duties she has been called upon to perform. She is just a sweet little baby girl - utterly natural and absolutely childlike. She behaves before the camera precisely as she would behave in real life. It may be said, in fact, that she is the mistress of that greatest of all arts, which is to conceal art.

"In A Messenger of Gladness, Helen Badgley is provided with a part which sets off to the fullest extent the charm of her baby personality. A simple allegory rather than a play, the film shows how the appeal of a little child's natural goodness and innocence of heart exerts over the varied human weaknesses with which she comes in contact an irresistible healing influence. Unkindness, petty meanness and greed vanish before the magic of her frank and happy smile like noxious vapours before a sunbeam. Apart from Helen Badgley's delightful performance, the film contains a series of brief but wonderfully vivid little character studies etched with deft and graphic touch by the artist concerned. Each of these various characters, whose troubles are dispelled by the baby's sunny smile, represents, as it were, a separate human drama, but, although they are all dismissed very rapidly, they are none the less effective. The exact meaning of 'Thanksgiving Day' might be explained on the screen for the benefit of English audiences, but it is not a point of any importance, and, in any case, its general significance is sufficiently obvious. Altogether, A Messenger of Gladness is a delightful little picture, which is, in its way, quite unique."

REVIEW, The Cinema, March 4, 1915:

"We had occasion to comment on the wonderful acting of Thanhouser's youngest juvenile actress, little Helen Badgley, when we reviewed Little Mischief some time back, and in another film, which is to be released [in England] on April 5th, under the title of A Messenger of Gladness, this remarkable tiny girl again demonstrates her prowess. The film is a delightful half-reeler, and will undoubtedly appeal to both sexes. To all appearances it has been specially written for Helen, for it is just a simply story, or rather a chain of pretty incidents entirely devoid of plot. The day is supposed to be Thanksgiving Day, and the little girl is firmly of the belief that everybody ought to be happy. Accompanied by her nurse, she sets out on a walk, and during her ramble she manages by her irresistible manner to reunite sweethearts, and even inspires an alcoholic victim to turn from the drinking-shop and treat his wife to as many love caresses as he had previously thrown her from him. This dainty little star is undoubtedly 'a messenger of gladness' to the public, for when she is seen in such films as this one and Little Mischief the sunshine she imparts from her chubby little face cannot fail to enter their hearts. In this film especially she will hit the mark, for there is an obvious lesson to be learned from it."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, December 5, 1914:

"Just a half-reel skit featuring the Kidlet as a messenger of Thanksgiving cheer to numerous unhappy people. Slight but well photographed."

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