Volume II: Filmography

THE LEGEND OF PROVENCE

December 1, 1913 (Monday)

Length: 4 reels

Character: Drama; Thanhouser Big Production

Director: W. Eugene Moore, Jr.

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan from Adelaide Procter's poem

Cameraman: Carl Louis Gregory

Cast: Maude Fealy (Sister Angela), James Cruze (Sir Henry, a young knight), Lila Chester (the adventuress), Carey L. Hastings (Sister Monica, the Superior)

Music: Orchestration arranged by E.A. Price and other musicians at the Tams Music Library, New York City. One notice stated that the "orchestration" was simply a piano score.

Notes: 1. This was the first of the so-called Thanhouser Big Productions, four-reel films to be released on the first of each month, and available on a year-long exclusive contract with exhibitors. 2. It was announced that orchestrations - suggested musical accompaniments for the picture - were available free of charge and had been arranged by the musicians at the Tams Music Library, New York City. Advertisements stated that similar orchestrations would be available for future Thanhouser Big Productions.

BACKGROUND OF THE SCENARIO: The Legend of Provence is from the pen of Adelaide Anne Procter (1825-1864), the daughter of B.W. Procter, a well-known poet who was a friend of Dickens and Wordsworth, both of whom encouraged young Adelaide in her writing efforts. Her early poems were published under the nom de plume "Mary Berwick" in Dickens' Household Words. Not even her family knew of her efforts until a year after her writing had appeared in print. Legends and Lyrics, a collection published in 1858, included The Legend of Provence, and brought wide recognition to her.

ARTICLE, The Morning Telegraph, November 23, 1913:

"Bert Adler of the Thanhouser Corporation adds one more score to his credit. The recent lobby literature sent out by him for the feature, A Legend of Provence, in which Maude Fealy stars, is some of the best that has been seen. It was made by the costly new Duotone color process, and Bert tells me that it costs about twice as much as the ordinary kind. In spite of this it was sent to 15,000 exhibitors."

ARTICLE, The Photoplay Magazine, December 1913:

In her "Studio Chat - From the Inside" column, Jean Darnell, a fellow Thanhouser actress, told of Fealy's work. It is believed that The Legend of Provence is the film referred to: "Maude Fealy, Thanhouser's feature leading woman, has been doing an adaptation of Sister Beatrice, where she plays the nun. Miss Fealy says: 'As the scenes were so difficult and Mr. Moore wanted them just right, and, of course, I had to wear my 'sister' makeup all the time, I really felt very sanctimonious. Even now I catch myself if I go to laugh, forgetting I have finished playing the nun.' You see, so thorough is Miss Fealy's work that she simply relaxes into the part, and throughout the picture tries to feel and act just as she fancies the character she is portraying feels. She is truly a wonderful artist."

ADVERTISEMENT, Reel Life, November 22, 1913:

"Maude Fealy in The Legend of Provence: The pathetic story of Angela, 'The Convent Child,' who falls in love with a wounded knight whom she had nursed and was made to face the stern realities of life outside convent walls. How the knight betrayed the trust that Angela reposed in him in her ignorance of the world and man, and how, through a wondrous miracle, her place in the convent was kept for Angela until her return and her absence never once noted. The tale of an innocent sinner who was altogether redeemed. In four parts, with 'Perfect Publicity' Posters, Cuts, Heralds. Make Your Exchange Give You The THANHOUSER BIG PRODUCTIONS."

REVIEW, The Bioscope, July 9, 1914:

"This is yet another version of that ancient German miracle legend of which we have now had so many variations on stage and screen as well as in poesy, among the more recent treatments of the theme being those of John Davidson, Maeterlinck and Dr. Vollmoeller. In attempting to reconstruct the life of old Provence, the Thanhouser Company have set themselves an ambitious undertaking. It is virtually impossible to handle these mediaeval subjects in modern America with the success within the reach of a European company, because, where the latter can readily avail themselves of existing architectural backgrounds, the American producer is compelled to prepare everything especially for his purposes. In view of these unfortunate limitations by which every American producer is equally hampered, and in view of the international competition existing in the World of Films, one cannot but admire the courage of the company which sets out to cope with the difficulties of such a picture as they present. It is greatly to the credit of the Thanhouser Company that they have been able to turn out a production so picturesque and so interesting as The Legend of Provence. It is true that the film is not without its faults - there are errors of detail in both staging and costume - but as a whole it is a really praiseworthy piece of work.

"The acting, in most cases, is capable. Miss Maude Fealy gives a pleasant performance as the erring nun who disappears with her lover from the sheltering walls of a convent, only to find on her return many years later that her place has been taken by a merciful saint from Heaven, and that her absence has passed unnoticed. Mr. James Cruze is energetic as the knight who rides off with the nun, though we must confess that we like him better in modern parts. The photographic quality is as good as it always is in Thanhouser films, but we should have preferred the adoption of a warmer tone, more in accord with the richly romantic spirit of Provence, in place of the somewhat chilly black and white which is favoured at present. As an entertainment, we fancy that The Legend of Provence will be very successful. It was doubtless designed to meet with popular approval, and there seems no reason to imagine that it will fail to secure it. (Thanhouser Big Production in three [sic] parts.)"

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, December 10, 1913:

"This is a four-reel adaptation of the beautiful poem of the same name. It is not too much to say that this film classic will enhance the beauty of the lines of the poem which are exclusively as subtitles. It is beyond our power or our wish to say a single thing in criticism of this masterpiece of the moving picture art. The points where the film excels are in the atmosphere of the convent, realistic acting that carries you into the convent life, appropriate costuming, detailed and finished directing, and a strong story. The acting of the principals is good throughout, but we should like to extend our congratulations to Miss Fealy in particular. This is a story based in a religious atmosphere, but so well and sympathetically handled that the church cannot help but approve of its lesson. It may be well to note that most of the characters are women, this in itself being a decided relief. Again we repeat: a film classic.

"We are shown the nuns of a convent in Provence in their various duties. Sister Monica, moved by the sight of a child just received in the convent, tells the story of Sister Angela. She was brought to the gates as a baby, and her mother died upon a bed of shame. So the child Angela was brought up by the sister, until a great battle took place outside the very walls of the convent. The wounded were brought in and tended by the nuns, the knight Sir Henry being nursed by Sister Angela. And what more natural in that they should fall in love, and that Angela should forsake her vows, and that they should go away together and be married. Only a miracle occurred. The statue of the Virgin forsook its niche and assumed the form and duties of Sister Angela, so that she was not missed. At first Angela was divinely happy with her husband and little baby, but the latter died, and the husband became drunk, and then she surprised him in the act of kissing another woman. After that she was obliged to leave him, her mortal dream shattered forever. Then it was hard work to support herself, and she sank lower, and became poorer and more ragged. Every once in a while she imagined that she held her little baby to her breast. Then one happy day, years later, her footsteps took her to the door of the convent. Here she rapped, and while the sister was looking for the key of the gate another miracle occurred. The Virgin, who all these years had done the work of Sister Angela, suddenly appeared in her niche, once more as the blessed Virgin, while Angela, outside the gate, is miraculously transformed into the Sister Angela of years before, and assumes her interrupted work among the sisters. The end shows her death and ascension into heaven."

# # #