Volume II: Filmography

THE WARNING

October 4, 1912 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: Marie Eline (the young son), Harry Benham (the father), Marguerite Snow (the mother)

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, September 28, 1912:

"This story with a remarkable 'twist' will work greater benefit for the temperance cause than an army of solemn lecturers. Be sure to let all the temperance, mission, reform and uplift societies around know you have it. A man addicted to drink takes his motherless son with him on a fishing trip. What seems to be the child's actual adventure completely sobers the father and he renounces the 'cup that cheers' for all times."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, September 28, 1912:

"Happy in the love of his devoted wife and their child, a young businessman found life's pathway pleasant. Then the greatest of sorrows came - his wife died - and he was plunged into gloom. There was no one to correct or guide him, no one to plead with him except his son, and he was a helpless little boy. One afternoon while the boy was playing in front of the house, the man passes out of the front door. The boy knew he was going to the saloon, and hoping to keep him away from there, timidly asked his father if he would not go fishing with him. The man was in a complacent mood, and consented, but despite the child's protests, insisted on stopping on the way to purchase a flask of whiskey. At the water's edge, the boy fished, the father drank. Finally the youngster caught a fish, and turned joyfully to show his father, but he was sunk in a drunken stupor and the child could not arouse him. The boy's face fell. He dropped his fishing pole, which slipped into the water. He then wandered off a ways, fell on the sandy beach, and sobbed bitterly.

"The drunk stirred uneasily in his sleep, for he had a most vivid dream. He saw himself at the edge of the water, his son fishing beside him. The boy, running about, fell overboard. The man saw it, and tried to go to his aid, but he was helplessly drunk. And, in his dream, he saw his child drown before his eyes. He woke with a cry of agony, and for a moment believed that his dream was true. The boy was gone, but floating in the water nearby was his fishing pole. He screamed again, and the child, who was nearby, came running up to see if there was anything he could do for papa. The man clasped the boy in his arms. He had gone on the theory that with the death of his wife his interest in life was gone, never thinking of the claims of his child. He vowed that liquor should never pass his lips again, and noted with tenderness how his promise brought back the lost look of happiness to the face of his child."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, October 6, 1912:

"This teaches an effective lesson. Left a widower with an only son, a man takes to drink. His little boy tries to dissuade his father from his habit, and one morning persuades him to go fishing. But the father takes a flask along and gets very drunk. He falls asleep and dreams that his son has fallen into the water and drowned. He wakes with a start to find his son gone and the little fellow's fishing pole floating nearby. He thinks his dream is true. But the boy hears his cries and runs to him. He resolves never to drink again."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 12, 1912:

"A pretty story, in which the chief characters are a father and son, the latter of whom is portrayed by the Thanhouser Kid. There is a fishing scene in which the fish drawn from the water by the youngster seems to be hardly 'animated.' There is one particularly effective picture, however, where the father, dreaming, sees on the dark face of the water the figure of his son and his wife. It is a fine bit of brief double exposure."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, October 9, 1912:

"With only three characters: a father, mother, and their son, a simple story, direct in its narration and generally sympathetic as found in this film. Opening pictures indicate the fond companionship of the father and his young son. Then comes the scene of domestic happiness in which the mother appears. Soon she is taken ill and dies, and the grief-stricken husband turns to drink as a means of deadening his sorrow. The neglected little boy misses the companionship to which he has become accustomed, and with the intuition of a clever child realizes the alteration in his father, who now spends most of his time away from home. But one day they go fishing together, and the son is jubilant, for it seems to him like a return of the old days. They are sitting on a rocky shore, and while the boy fishes the father imbibes too freely from a whiskey bottle. He falls asleep, and the miserable little boy wanders away. In a dream the father sees the child drowning, and then has a vision of the shadowy figures of his wife and child, both lost to him. When he awakes to find that the boy has returned safely, he throws the whiskey bottle far out to sea, and presumably he will never buy another. The settings for this film are unusually attractive, and it is well acted by Harry Benham, Marguerite Snow, and the clever Thanhouser Kid."

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