Volume II: Filmography

THE GIRL OF THE SEA

June 1, 1915 (Tuesday)

Length: 2 reels (1,412 feet this section); (the second reel was split with The Baby Benefactor at the end)

Character: Drama

Cast: Mignon Anderson (Lydia Starr, the girl), Harry Benham (Emelyn Lewis, the reporter), Ethel Jewett (Martha Starr, the foster mother), George Weiseman (Goldsmith Tudor, the girl's rich uncle), Jane Fairbanks (his wife)

Location: Some scenes were filmed in Long Island Sound near New Rochelle.

Notes: 1. The title was listed erroneously as The Girl of the Seasons in a schedule in The New York Dramatic Mirror, May 26, 1915 and several times in The Moving Picture World. 2. George Weiseman's surname appeared as "Wiseman" in some listings. 3. This was billed as a "natural length" film. 4. Some scenes were filmed on and around the wreck of the schooner Henrietta in Long Island Sound.

ARTICLE, The Evening Standard (New Rochelle), April 3, 1915:

"The schooner Henrietta, owned by the F.S. Fisher Navigation Company, carrying about 65 tons of coal to the Fisher coal yard, near East Main Street, was blown on the rocks at Bonnefoy Point, about 6 o'clock, this morning, and has sunk off the new beach at Hudson Park. It is said she is in danger of breaking up, if she is not raised soon. At noon today, the tide was rising over her decks. The schooner entered Echo Bay last night, under her own sails, and dropped anchor near the New Rochelle Yacht Club. The wind raised a small gale in the night and caused the schooner to drag her anchor. She was blown across the bay until she struck the rocks of Bonnefoy Point, where the Huguenots landed in 1688. The crew, consisting of the captain and two men, tried to push her off the rocks, but were unable to do so, as the wind kept working against them. She beat on the rocks repeatedly until it is believed a hole was stove in her bottom and she sank. As she went down she slipped toward the new beach which had just been made by the City. She is lying partly on the rocks and partly on the beach."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, May 29, 1915:

"Emelyn Lewis, a reporter, while vacationing in an out-of-the-way seashore village, for the first time in his life really falls in love. The girl, Lydia Starr, lives with widowed Martha Starr, whom she calls 'mother,' and Lewis, a frequent visitor at their cottage, is keenly studied by the older woman. At last she decides that he deserves to know the history of the girl he loves, and how she came to be reared in such humble circumstances. Sixteen years before, Martha relates, a ship was wrecked on the reefs off the island. The captain was washed ashore, and before he died he made it known that a woman and child were in the wreck. The woman was found dead. But the child, still breathing, was brought safely to land. Little Lydia, her parentage unknown, had been brought up as Martha's own daughter. The story in no degree dissuades Lewis from his desire to marry the girl. Some time later, in the city, Lydia's fiancé has occasion to investigate a well-known millionaire. In the office 'morgue' he finds clippings of sixteen years before which make him realize that Lydia is the orphaned niece of Goldsmith Tudor. He takes the proof to Martha Starr. Lewis tells her that Tudor is a scoundrel, and that his wife is a vain, overbearing society woman. They dread the thought of Lydia going to live with such a guardian as her uncle. Yet, it seems but fair that she should enjoy his wealth and social position. But the girl herself has overheard the discussion. Worldliness fails to enter into her decision. She chooses to remain Martha's daughter, and to marry the young reporter."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, June 2, 1915: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

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