Volume II: Filmography

HER SISTER'S SECRET

May 6, 1913 (Tuesday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: James Cruze (the handsome neighbor), Florence LaBadie (the impetuous younger sister)

Location: Southern California

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, May 10, 1913:

The secret was a man, of course. Both sisters loved him. The one whom he fancied most gave him up in the other's interest. And then the latter skipped out of the way to leave the fancied sister free to be won.

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, May 10, 1913:

The famous specialist was grave as he gave his verdict. His patient must go to California if she wished to regain her health. The proposed trip to the land of perpetual summer seemed a real treat to his youthful patient, but her older sister, who was to accompany her, realized fully the fight that had to be made before health was won back for the invalid. In California the younger girl soon regained her strength, and she and her sister prospered on their little farm. Love came to the older girl in the person of a young, manly farmer. She cared for him, although she admitted it to no one, and as for him, one look into his eyes was enough, but she had 'little sister' to consider, and gave him no opportunity to speak his mind. The younger girl thought that the many presents of flowers and fruit which the farmer brought were intended for her alone, and, being of a very romantic temperament, mistook a passing fancy for the farmer for love. She told her secret to her sister, and the older sister, accustomed to making sacrifices for the younger, made the greatest one of her life, when she refused the farmer's proposal of marriage. Then in her diary, where she recorded the events of each day, she wrote that she had refused the man she loved, although it nearly broke her heart, because her little sister loved him.

'Big Sister' had gone on an errand to a nearby town when the younger girl accidentally found the diary, and curiosity led her to open it. She read the pathetic entry, realized the love which had prompted the sacrifice, and resolved to be worthy of it. She went to the farmer and told him why he had been rejected, then leaving a note of farewell to her sister she took a train for the East and returned to her relatives. As for the older girl, she did not refuse her lover a second time. She married him and they were very happy. And her sister in the East later met the man of her choice, and never regretted the action which had won her sister's respect and gratitude.

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, May 11, 1913:

The story of this film centers around two sisters, one of whom is in poor health. A trip to California is insisted upon by the attending physician, and there in that sunny clime the girl soon becomes the picture of health. Their next door neighbor, a pleasant young farmer, falls in love with the older sister, bringing fruit and flowers to her home as tokens of his admiration and love. The elder [sic; younger was intended] sister, believing him to be in love with her, unconsciously appropriates the gifts. The older sister, being used to making sacrifices, refuses the proposal of the young man; but one day when she is away on an errand the younger sister reads the story of her love for the young man in her diary. Realizing the situation, she goes to him and tells him why her sister refused him. She then boards a train for the East, leaving behind her a note for her sister explaining everything. Later on she finds her affinity in the East.

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, May 17, 1913:

A nicely pictured offering, showing the manner in which two sisters, one of them ill, arrive in California, land of flowers and sunshine. A pretty love story develops, James Cruze playing the attractive young neighbor. The invalid accepts all his presents as coming to herself, but in this she was not altogether correct, as the story shows.

# # #