Volume II: Filmography

THE SATYR AND THE LADY

October 20, 1911 (Friday)

Length: 900 feet

Character: Drama

Cast: Marie Eline (the peddler's daughter), Florence LaBadie (the lady), Harry Benham (the artist), David H. Thompson (the satyr)

Location: Some scenes were filmed in Manhattan, New York City

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 14, 1911:

"A young artist, working on a painting he called 'The Satyr and the Lady,' was pleased with his woman model, but found that the clay figure Satyr did not meet with the requirements. So he took a trip through New York's crowded East Side, where he knew he could find a model suited to the character of his work. After a short trip through the congested marketplaces of the ghetto, the artist saw, in the person of a shoestring vendor, the very model he wanted. The peddler was glad to pose, because, when told how much he would get, found that 'sitting still' was a much more remunerative occupation than hustling around the shoelaces. As he sat day after day at the feet of the beautiful woman, the pedlar was impressed with her loveliness, and to him she became the embodiment of all that is good and noble. As a matter of fact, the model is of the ordinary kind, pleasure loving, good natured, charitable and without any particular high standards. She is very kind to the 'satyr,' although he is repulsive and ugly. When the picture is completed, she gives him a rose, which he highly treasures and dreams over.

"Sometime after, the Satyr is on his death bed. Realizing that his only child, a little girl, will be left without anyone to care for her, he pens a note to the 'beautiful lady,' telling her of his condition, and asking her to take care of his daughter. He sends his little girl with the note to the artist, with the request that he forward it to the model - for the Satyr does not know where 'the lady' lives. The artist comes with a note when the apartment of the model rings with the hilarity and abandon of her friends. She reads the pitiful message and is moved. She leaves the guests, among whom the artist has remained, and goes to the shabby east side tenement; but arrives too late. The Satyr is dead and his child is left alone in the world. The model takes the child to her home. She finds her friends still dancing and enjoying themselves, so she puts them out with a little ceremony; for all her thoughts are now for the child. After her guests have departed, she tucks the little one in bed, and vows, for the child's sake, to lead a new and better life. The artist, who has long admired the model, hides behind a curtain, and the new beautiful, womanly qualities she shows while caring for the child completely win his heart. They are married, give up their so-called Bohemian life, and become useful, active members of society."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, October 22, 1911:

"When the model goes to the home of the sick peddler she should have been accompanied by one of the men at the party, notably by the artist, for no woman would in all likelihood go to the Lower East Side of the metropolis in evening gown and alone at night. It would not have injured the tale to have had an escort. The peddler might have simulated his illness with somewhat more striking effect, as he hardly looks ill. His wig and whiskers might have been applied more carefully, also, as the lines of the former could be seen all too plainly. The story is good and it is well acted and equally well staged, the street scenes being remarkably well taken, with noticeable crowding of onlookers to mar the tale. It is a story of an artist who engages a poor peddler to pose for him and whose girl model later adopts the child of the peddler upon the latter's death, when the artist and the girl marry and settle at a country home with the child."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture News, October 14, 1911:

"This Thanhouser release for Friday, October 20th, is a story of ugliness' tribute to beauty and deals with the simplicity and faith of a shoestring peddler and a beautiful artist's model. The action shows how the model's regeneration was brought about by the responsibilities of a guardianship. Although this release is not an adaptation, the story is in harmony with the well-known policy of the Thanhouser Company to present classics and high-class films. The simplicity of this touching tale emphasizes its forcefulness. There are no confusing complications - no counterplots and no by-plots. Smoothly and naturally we are told that an artist who is working on a picture called 'The Satyr and the Lady' is dissatisfied with the lay figure, Satyr, and that is satisfied with his 'lady' model. In order to get a suitable model the artist scours the congested marketplaces of the ghetto. There he finds in a person of a bewhiskered shoelace peddler the very man he wants. A bargain is made and the peddler is astonished to learn that 'sitting still' is a much more remunerative occupation than hustling around with shoestrings.

"The beautiful lady with whom the Satyr poses is very kind to him, and soon she becomes in his eyes the embodiment of all that is good and virtuous. But in reality the model is of the ordinary sort - the kind you read about in the newspapers. Long after the picture is finished, the Satyr is on his death bed. He is troubled by the thoughts of the uncertainty of the welfare of his child after he is gone. Finally his mind reverts to 'his good and noble idol.' She, he decides, is the only fitting guardian. He sends for her and although she is in the midst of hilarious and Bohemian bunch of friends in her apartment she goes to him. She finds him dead, but his child finds a mother.

"The scenes are picturesque and full of power. The artist's studio, the ghetto scenes, the models apartment and the tenement dwelling of the Satyr are all depicted with a naturalness and a fidelity to life, that is a revelation. The players, the Satyr, the artist, the lady all live their parts. The emotional scenes 'come over' with compelling force. Florence LaBadie's performance of the model is beyond criticism. She possesses a natural charm and the beauty of a fresh morning lily. Mr. Benham and Mr. Thompson, the artist and the Satyr respectively, both do remarkable work."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 8, 1911:

"The artist was painting a picture to be called 'The Satyr and the Lady;' he had a very pretty lady, but only a mechanical satyr which he though unsatisfactory, so he hired a Lower East Side peddler. The peddler's little half-starved daughter (the Thanhouser Kid) is glad of the things to eat that the poor man's wages buy, but the job comes to an end. A few months later, the man, dying, writes the beautiful model who posed with him, asking her to look after his child when he is gone. The letter is given to her while at a party and she leaves the gay scene at once to investigate. She finds the old man dead, and takes the ragged girl home with her."

Note: This review is one of many in which the reviewer for The Moving Picture World apparently is unaware of the identities of any of the players except the Thanhouser Kid. Contrast this with the preceding review from The Moving Picture News, in which several other players are identified.

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, October 25, 1911:

"A pleasing story has been given clear and artistic treatment herein with settings that are convincing and suggestive - the actual scene on the Bowery being noteworthy - but with the exception of the little girl one feels that the players might have made more of their respective situations. The artist is painting a picture of the title named above and decides to find the type of a real satyr and discovers such in an East Side peddler. After the picture is done, the Jew, on his death bed, writes the beautiful lady model to take care of his little girl. The letter reached her while at a reception. She goes to get the child. The artist then shows her a better way to live."

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