Volume II: Filmography

THE POET OF THE PEOPLE

April 25, 1911 (Tuesday)

Length: 995 feet

Character: Drama

Cast: Frank H. Crane (the poet), Julia M. Taylor (ward of the king), Marie Eline

Notes: 1. The King's Pleasure, a one-act drama presented by Edwin Thanhouser in the late 1890s, had as one of the characters Gringoire (with a slightly different spelling), the "poet of the people." 2. In some accounts Miss Taylor's role was listed as "princess."

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, April 22, 1911:

"A grand presentation of life in the middle ages, when the upper classes were really up, and the common people had nothing except suffering, starvation and depression. In the France of the early Louis' people became resigned to conditions to the extent that never a murmur was heard from them. But a pure poet and his poetry changed the complexion of things a bit, and the reel gives the why and the wherefore."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, April 29, 1911:

"Grengoire, a ragged poet, feels keenly the wrongs of his people, who are terribly misused and ground down by the nobles of his day. He feels most keenly the fact that the king heeds not their cries for justice. He is a dreamer, not a practical man, feels he can do nothing to help the people, except present their wrongs to them in such languages they themselves would be brought to a realization of their oppression, and will rise in their might and fight for justice. One day, after having seen a poor old woman struck a cruel blow by a servant of the rich, Grengoire gathers the people in the streets about him, and reads him his poem entitled 'The King Laughs While the People Starve.' This takes place directly before the house of Annette, a beautiful girl, ward of the king. The king himself, incognito, happens to visit Annette and her father on the same day and notices the crowd before her house as he enters.

"When he sees Annette he questions her concerning the disturbance, she tells him the crowd are listening to a fellow called Grengoire, 'the poet of the people,' whom she has noted they greatly admire. The kings curiosity is aroused, and he orders Grengoire brought before him. The king then demands that Grengoire read his poetry. Grengoire, knowing the king must be some great nobleman, although he does not suspect him of being the king himself, hesitates about reading verses against the king. He is, however, tempted by the offer of a good meal, as the poet is almost starving, he is induced to imply with the request. The king is furious when he hears himself criticized thus in verse, and orders Grengoire's arrest and immediate execution. But he has become interested in the ragged poet, and his last favor promises to grant him any request he may make. Grengoire asks for an interview with Annette, whom he has long worshipped from afar, but to whom he has never spoken. This favor the king grants, and Grengoire is brought to Annette's house. Here she allows him in his interview with her to tell her of his hopes for bettering the condition of the people, and he speaks so elegantly that not only does she espouse his cause but actually falls in love with the ragged poet himself.

"Grengoire is led away to the execution at the termination of his interview, and when Annette learns that he is to die, she pleads with all her soul to the king for his pardon, confessing her own great love, and bringing the king to a realization of the fact that the poor poet meant good only, and that even his harsh judgment of the king and the nobles was, to a great extent, deserved by them. Just as the noose is being tightened around the unfortunate's neck, the king and Annette appear at the foot of the scaffold, and stopping the execution, the king grants Grengoire a full pardon, places his hand in that of Annette, and tells the crowd assembled to witness the hanging that he can promise something much better - a wedding."

REVIEW, The Billboard, April 29, 1911:

"A very silly story, told with many inconsistencies, but with fairly good acting and scenery. A poverty-stricken poet is in love with the king's ward, but foolishly writes poetry decrying the king's actions toward the people. Through the girl's attention to the reading of the poetry the king becomes interested and summons the poet before him, and seeing the nature of the poetry which he has the poet read, has him put in prison and sentenced to death on the scaffold. The ward pleads to the king for his release, stating that she is in love with him, and just as the execution is about to take place, the king relents and the execution stopped. The girl is allowed to marry the poet."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, April 30, 1911:

"This familiar story is well told in this latest picture form and it is very well put on, taken as a whole. More people would have added to its picturesqueness and value, however, and in the scenes in the square and later the mob of citizenry is noticeably small. The interiors are commendable and the costuming is praiseworthy. The gallows scene is particularly well put on, although the marriage business almost ruined it, for assuredly this most sudden ending should have been pictured in another environment. The transition is all too sudden and though the effort was probably to make a most dramatic climax the result is an anti-climax."

REVIEW in "Film Charts," The Moving Picture News, April 29, 1911:

"Start: Poetic

"Finish: Popular

"Moral: Poetry pays - at times

"Reception [of the audience]: Good

"Biggest moment: At the gallows"

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, May 6, 1911:

"This story, probably taken from some old book of tales, presents sharp contrast. A poet of the people in rags reads a poem to a king in which his majesty is severely criticized. A small wonder that he gets hurried away to summary execution. But here enters a girl, a ward of the king, whose heart has been touched and whose love flows freely toward this poet who is following a poet's duty in attempting to lighten the wrongs which oppress the people. Her plea for him is successful and though the noose has been placed about the unfortunate poet's neck the king and his ward arrive in time to pardon him. Then the gathering gets something better than an execution, they get a wedding. The crafty old king here - looks much like Louis IX of France - is an excellent piece of acting. If all the parts had been as well acted the picture would have been an 'all star' affair."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, May 3, 1911:

"This production is well presented, and with the exception of the maid at the window, is well staged. The poet writes of the wrongs to the people and declaims his verses to the populace. He is overheard by the princess, who has him appear before the king. Not knowing the king's identity, he reads his verses of treason and is thrown into prison. His last request before the gallows is to see the princess again, and the request is granted. When the princess learns that he is to be hung, she pleads with the king, and there is a wedding on the gallows instead of the hanging decreed by the king. The performance of the king is somewhat apart from beaten lines, and one may not quite agree with the interpretation. He seemed to take quite a friendly interest in the man he had convicted, appearing at the jail and at the square, in quite friendly communion."

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