Volume II: Filmography

THE SEVENTH NOON

(Mutual-Thanhouser)

November 4, 1915 (Thursday)

Length: 5 reels

Character: Drama; Mutual Masterpicture No. 45

Scenario: By Catherine Carr, from the novel of the same name by Frederick Orin Bartlett

Cast: Ernest Glendinning (Peter Donaldson), Winifred Kingston (Ellen Arsdale), George LeGuere (Ben, her brother), Julia Blanc (Marie, the housekeeper), Everett Butterfield (Jacques, her son), William T. Clark (Police Inspector Saule), A.J. Robinson (Professor Barstow), Gilda Leary (Ruth Chester)

Notes: 1. The Seventh Noon is an anomaly among Thanhouser productions. With the exceptions of Winifred Kingston and Julia Blanc, the cast members were not regular Thanhouser players. The production was discussed in an article in The Moving Picture World, November 13, 1915, which stated that more of Frederick Orin Bartlett's stories, namely Lord Lisle's Daughter, Love for a Day, and John Bull's Daughter, would be dramatized for the screen by Thanhouser. So far as is known, the other Bartlett stories were not filmed by Thanhouser, or, if they were, they were not released under those titles. The Seventh Noon was featured in a full-page advertisement in The Moving Picture World issue of October 30a (sic), 1915, under the Mutual name, but with no mention of Thanhouser. Similarly, other trade notices of the time seen by the author attribute the film to Mutual alone, as does a plot synopsis printed in the November 6, 1915 issue of The Moving Picture World. Apparently, the film was made in the Thanhouser studio, but outside players, with the exceptions of Julia Blanc and Winifred Kingston, were used. 2. The title was listed as The Seventh Moon in a few notices!

BACKGROUND OF THE SCENARIO: Catherine Carr was a writer in the teens and, among other things, created a book titled The Art of Photoplay Writing (New York: Jordan, 1914). Frederick Orin Bartlett (1876-1945) was born in Massachusetts and received his education at Proctor Academy (1891-1896) and Harvard (1896-1898). While in school he wrote for the Boston Record and the Boston Herald. During his career he wrote numerous short stories, 18 novels, and various features for The Saturday Evening Post (under the nom de plume "The Old Dog").

ARTICLE-SYNOPSIS, The Atlanta Constitution, November 14, 1915:

"Suppose you had exactly seven days to live; what would you do with yourself in the interim? Enjoy yourself to the very limit of your resources? Or would you go away somewhere, probably to some obscure point, and wait calmly for death to claim you? A difficult question to decide, to be sure, but one, nevertheless, that is an every-day occurrence in almost every city of the universe. In The Seventh Noon, a five-part Mutual Masterpicture, Ernest Glendinning, popular idol of countless thousands of theatregoers throughout the country, as 'Peter Donaldson,' a young and brilliant, but poverty-stricken lawyer, is confronted with just such a proposition. He has but seven days to live - in other words, death will overtake him on the noon of the seventh day. This Masterpicture, adapted from the book of the same name from the pen of Frederick Orin Bartlett, caused one of the greatest sensations ever known to the public. And its picturization promises to cause even a greater sensation. The Seventh Noon will be shown at the Savoy next Thursday."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, October 23, 1915:

"A handsome young man entered the Café Rose Noire and seated himself at just the right distance from the music. He was faultlessly dressed and his glance, far from being blasé, roamed pleasurably over the brilliant company. No one looking at Peter Donaldson would have guessed his secret nor divined the tragedy there. For Donaldson had just seven days, minus seven hours, left to live - and he knew it. For six years, the young barrister had been struggling to maintain himself in the law and use his talents on the side of justice. The big fees had all gone to his opponents. At last, his savings nearly exhausted, he had determined to end it all. A visit that morning to the laboratory of Barstow, the chemist, unexpectedly had furnished him with the means. He found his old friend just completing an experiment with a slow working but painless poison of his own invention. The dog, which Barstow had victimized, dropped dead before Donaldson's eyes exactly at the end of the seventh day to the minute from the time the chemist had administered the poison. Secretly helping himself to a phial of the fluid, Donaldson hurried back to his room. At precisely twelve, noon, pledging his own ghostly reflection in the mirror, the young lawyer had drained the toast of death. Then there rushed over him a feverish desire to live those remaining seven days to the full. He had hastened to the bank and drawn out his small capital. And that evening found him at Cafe Rose Noire, every sense quickened, and all his faculties on the alert for possible adventure.

"A rustle of silk, the caress of a feather scarf fluttering back against Donaldson's arm, and his attention was called to a young woman who, with her companion, was taking her place at the table next to his. The girl's face was anxious. Soon Donaldson could not help noticing the strange, nervous actions of the young man opposite her. His agitation increased, and presently at his insistence, the couple rose and hurried from the cafe. Donaldson followed. He was just in time to see the strange young man dismiss the chauffeur, force the young woman into the car, and leaping into the driver's place, let out the high-powered machine at full speed. Donaldson jumped onto the running board. At last he succeeded in overmastering the madman at the wheel, who limply collapsed. Then Ellen Arsdale told her deliverer the truth - Ben, her brother, was suffering from the curse of several generations of Arsdales, opium.

"That night, Ben Arsdale disappeared. The home of Ruth Chester, a neighbor of Ellen's, was robbed and a handkerchief marked 'B.A.' threw suspicion on young Arsdale. The following day, Ellen and Donaldson - who had now pledged himself to the cause of the helpless girl - drove out to the Arsdale country house, hoping that there they might find the fugitive. Two days after this fruitless expedition, a note from Ellen informed Donaldson that Ben had been home, helped himself to all the money in the house, and had again disappeared. He had muttered something, however, about 'Wum's place.' This was enough. Donaldson lost no time in hurrying down to a famous den in Chinatown, where his intimacy with Police Inspector Saule was the young lawyer's open sesame. There he found Ben stupefied with drug. Donaldson dragged him bodily out of the hole and carried him to his hotel. Then he dressed and went to see Ben's sister.

"Alone that evening with Ellen, it suddenly came over Donaldson how much he loved her. In the very act of telling her so, the recollection that death awaited him at the seventh noon, caused him to rush out of the house. At a loss to explain his strange conduct, Ellen heard with a confusion of emotions next morning the news that officers, bent on arresting Ben Arsdale, had been intercepted the night before by Donaldson, who confessed to the Chester robbery and gave himself over to the police.

"Some days later, Inspector Saule waited upon Ellen with a note from the prisoner. Ellen's housekeeper, Marie, overhearing the inspector give his name to the maid, fled to the attic where her son, Jacques, was in hiding. Confident that Saule had come to arrest him, the young crook attempted to flee the house, but, in the lower hall, ran straight into the arms of his enemies. Saule, searching Jacques, drew forth part of the Chester jewels. That same hour Donaldson found himself a free man. Almost crazed with remorse at his suicidal act, he rushed to Barstow's laboratory. As a last, possible hope, his chemist friend might know some antidote. Then, from under a settee in the anteroom crawled a familiar little black dog. Donaldson stared wildly at the animal as Barstow entered. 'No, the poison was ineffective,' he said. 'I doubt whether it would even put a man to sleep.'

"'Give me that dog' cried Ellen's lover. 'It has taught me the value of life.'"

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, October 24, 1915:

"The Seventh Noon presents a plot that is filled with action and has plenty of suspense. The story sets forth the adventures of a young man who has taken a mysterious poison and has but seven days to live. On the first evening of his last week of life he meets a young girl and her brother. The brother is suffering from the opium habit and his sister is trying to save him. Peter Donaldson comes to her rescue and they succeed in getting Ben, the brother, home. But the brother escapes, and Donaldson's efforts to find him again lead to some interesting complications. Of course at the end of the seventh day he finds that he loves the girl and does not want to die. The producers have adopted a skillful way of saving the young man's life. Just as the seventh noon is approaching, Donaldson goes to his friend, the chemist, who had discovered the poison. Barstow, the discoverer, had experimented with the poison on a dog in the presence of Donaldson, and the animal had apparently died. But while Donaldson is waiting for death, the same dog, very much alive, jumps out to greet him. And then the chemist enters and tells him that the experiment had proved a failure.

"Ernest Glendinning is seen in the role of the young man of many adventures. Mr. Glendinning is an adept in the art of pantomime although is sometimes too obviously acting. The cast includes some well-known picture players. Winifred Kingston plays opposite Mr. Glendinning, the weakling brother, with skill. Everett Butterfield has a small part which gives him few opportunities as he is nearly always seen dredging around a corner, escaping over a wall or hiding in a dark room. As may be guessed from this description of his actions he plays the part of a fugitive criminal. The picture belongs to the class that may be called 'screen fiction.' Not much originality has been used in the direction of the film and some painted backgrounds do not add attractiveness to the settings."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 30a, 1915:

"This is an adaptation of the book by the same name by Frederick Orin Bartlett. The production features Ernest Glendinning and Winifred Kingston, who with a fairly competent support, do as well as can be expected with this picture that has been stretched far beyond the limits of the story. It has been done in five parts, and treats of a combination of unhealthy subjects. One young man tests poison that is expected to end life in seven days, and while making the test he rescues an opium fiend, the brother of a girl with whom he has fallen in love. The poison fails to act and all ends happily."

REVIEW, The Vancouver World, May 19, 1916:

"Ernest Glendinning, brilliant star and a matinee idol on Broadway's Great White Way, comes to the Orpheum today in the Mutual Masterpicture, The Seventh Noon, a thrilling drama of action and suspense. In the telling of the story, Peter Donaldson has made a failure of his life and decides to end it. A friend of his, a noted chemist, has discovered a poison which acts fatally exactly seven days after taking it. The chemist tries it on a dog with apparently fatal results, so Donaldson drinks the poison, draws his money out of the bank, resolved to live the seven days to the fullest. He registers at an exclusive hotel and there he meets the heroine. From that moment adventure follows adventure and the spectator is held in breathless suspense until the seventh noon is reached. One must see the picture to appreciate the climax, as to tell it would only spoil the picture. Mr. Glendinning is supported by a strong New York cast."

REVIEW, Variety, October 29, 1915: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

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