Volume II: Filmography

REMORSE

June 16, 1914 (Tuesday)

Length: 2 reels (1,966 feet)

Character: Drama

Director: James Durkin

Scenario: Maude Fealy

Cast: J.S. Murray (Samuel Stearns, the father), Mrs. Minnie McCoy (Mrs. Stearns, the mother), Morris Foster (Jack Stearns, the son), Ethel Jewett (May Ransom), Edward N. Hoyt (George Ransom, May's father), Jack Sullivan (a burglar), Joe Baker (another burglar), Boyd Marshall, Harry Blakemore

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, June 13, 1914:

"His uniform, that of a Salvation Army private, proclaimed his calling and gained him respect when he entered the cheap lodging house and greeted the derelicts he found there. His face was seamed, he was gaunt and emaciated, and his sparse hair was tinged with gray at the temples, where it showed under his cap. He proved to be a good talker, and the derelicts were good listeners. This is the story he told in simple language: When the subject of this story - we shall call him Jack - was 20 years old he was the pride of his father and mother. He had many opportunities that most young men miss, and the future looked bright. His father was a successful business man, his mother was devoted to him. She, however, was an invalid, suffering from heart trouble. This infliction would have made the son more dutiful and more devoted, but he was thoughtless; and it never occurred to him that wrong conduct on his part not only grieved his loving mother but endangered her life.

"Much of Jack's conduct was due to the thoughtlessness of youth. Had he foreseen what suffering his heedlessness was to cause, had he ever imagined the termination of the road on which he had started, he certainly would have turned about and faced the other direction. But the way was pleasant and the end was not in sight. What harm was there in entering a saloon? None, so far as Jack could see. And what harm would one drink do - just one? So he entered the saloon and took the one drink. Then he took another and another. He was not entirely himself when he left the saloon and encountered his father on the way home from business. The father rebuked the son severely and pointed out to him where such a beginning was likely to land him. The rebuke might have been more effective if Jack's mother had not been an invalid. The father, fearful of the effect a sight of her intoxicated son would have, helped the boy into the house without his mother seeing him. The father was put in a position where he was in conflict between love of his wife and desire to shield her, and the wish to keep his son from continuing his evil and dangerous course.

"Jack did not obey his father's commands, and he continued his association with disreputable companions. He drank to excess and he began gambling. His father continued his surveillance, took him from saloons by strategy and by force, and once took him home in a wagon in such a condition that further concealment from the mother was impossible. The shock of seeing her son helplessly drunk almost killed her. It would have been more merciful if the blow had been fatal, for there are some things worse than death. For a few days after his mother had seen him drunk Jack was remorseful, and his conduct was above reproach. During this time he called to see May Ransom, his boyhood sweetheart. He was talking to her on the porch of her home when her father appeared. The father knew of Jack's conduct and did not approve of his association with May. Mr. Ransom later had a talk with May and pointed out to her the danger of marrying a young man who had shown a weakness for drink. He even arranged to send May away so that she would not see Jack again until her liking for him had died. May told all this to Jack.

"'But you love me, don't you?' asked Jack. 'You know I do,' said May, tearfully. 'Then let us elope,' urged Jack. 'I never will touch another drop of liquor. I have been foolish but I am not a drunkard. I don't care for liquor. If only you will marry me, you will never have cause to regret it, and I never shall drink again. I swear it!' May believed him. Jack also believed he was telling the truth. May and Jack eloped, and a year later she was living with her baby in a log hut and had realized that she was married to a drunkard and a gambler. She submitted patiently until, one night when he returned home drunk, he abused her and finally beat her and then stumbled into the bedroom to fall into a drunken slumber. As he slept May packed her few pieces of clothing and took her baby and went away leaving a note, saying: 'I can no longer allow you to drag me down. You prefer your whiskey; so be it. I am going back to my father.' Months later Jack returned to his home. Before he could carry out his intention he heard a Salvation Army band on the street, followed it to the barracks, stayed for the services, and decided to try to save others by telling them of his own experience. 'That is my story,' ended the gray-haired man. 'I look as if I were 50 but I am 35. I am 'Jack.'"

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, June 14, 1914:

"Drink causes the downfall of a young man, the death of his father and mother and the unhappiness of a sweet young girl. In the end it results in the man's joining the Salvation Army."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, June 27, 1914:

"A two-reel preachment. It gives the life story of a Salvation Army leader who wants to prove that even the worst sinner can be saved. The story is not new (it is just the kind of story such a man would tell), and it is a bit dry and lacking in suspense for a two-reel offering. Then it condones divorce, a circumstance that will spoil it for many who have given it unqualified support as a useful picture. It is well staged and the photography is clear."

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