Volume II: Filmography

WHEN MERCY TEMPERS JUSTICE

October 15, 1912 (Tuesday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: Mignon Anderson (impoverished wife and mother), Marie Eline (one of her two daughters), James Cruze (impoverished father), William Russell (the judge), Florence LaBadie (Spirit of Justice)

Note: A review published in the October 16, 1912 issue of The New York Dramatic Mirror listed James Cruze as the judge and Harry Benham as the impoverished father.

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

"The judge had a long calendar, he was weary and inclined to be short in his answers to those who came before him. He brightened up for a moment when a well-known banker was brought before him. This man was an old clubmate, and the charge of crooked dealing, brought by some ragged depositors, seemed to the court ridiculous. He said so and fixed the bail at a trifling figure, and at that almost apologized to his dignified prisoner. The next in line was a wretched looking man who had stolen a bottle of milk from a dairy wagon. He did not deny his guilt, but stated that his wife and children were starving. Many times before had the judge heard that excuse, and it only wearied him now. Impatiently he ordered the wife to cease pleading for the man, and he sent the self-confessed thief to Blackwell's Island. That night the judge sat in the well-furnished dining room, smoking a cigar after dinner. Idly his thoughts went to the courtroom, and he lightly remembered the statue of Justice which adorned the chamber. 'I wonder,' he mused, 'I wonder what that figure thinks of my decisions, and what it would do in my place.'

"Then it seemed that the courtroom was right there in front of him, and that the figure of Justice was alive. It came down from the pedestal, and in a moment was in the dining room opposite him. Justice did NOT like his court rulings. That was clear at once, and the judge found that Justice was a most unpleasant companion, who insisted on taking the jurist out to see the victims of his decisions. It was a most uncomfortable night. The judge was not interested and politely hinted so. Then the anger of Justice was aroused and the unfortunate judge found himself alone in the streets, his fine clothing rags, and he himself as friendless as many of the unfortunates who had appeared before him. When he tried to re-enter his house he was rudely turned away. After wandering around for many hours the pangs of hunger assailed him, and he stole some rolls which he saw left in an areaway. He was promptly arrested, taken before a judge who looked and acted as he had done himself on the bench, and despite his pleas for mercy, was sent to Blackwell's Island. In misfortune he learned humility, and found one friend, the poor man he had sent away for stealing for his starving family. Soon the judge realized that strict unswerving justice is sometimes as bad as injustice, and that only when justice is tempered with mercy can it be rightly entitled to that name. Then - he found himself back in his dining room again, a kinder, better, less arrogant judge, one who had learned the lesson all judges should know. He secured a pardon for the man who had stolen food, and from that time was more careful in his decisions, more thoughtful of the unfortunates who came before him. That was why, in the course of years, he won the title of 'The Poor Man's Judge' and bore it with honor during his career on the bench."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, October 20, 1912:

"Double exposure plays quite a part in this photo-drama. It is a dream play. A judge shows partiality in favor of a rich criminal against a man who steals a loaf of bread. The judge dreams that he is the poor man, and his dream so affects him that later he shows no partiality and treats the man with influence the same as the other. In his dream he sees himself sentenced to prison, where he meets the man he had sent up, and this leads him to secure the pardon of the unfortunate one. The double exposure occurs in scenes where the figure of Justice comes from her picture frame and takes action in favor of the poor man. It is dramatically played and is a serious subject well handled."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 26, 1912:

"A fantasy presented as the dream of a judge. It has the fine qualities happily often found in offerings by Thanhouser. Containing, as it does, a plea for equal justice to poor and rich alike, and being presented in a wholesome, even-tempered way that never irritates, we commend it as a thoroughly worthy picture. Besides this, it will rank high as entertainment; for it is a well acted and gracefully conducted picture. Miss Anderson plays the wife and mother in the poverty-stricken family. One of her two little girls is the Thanhouser Kid. The father, who snatches a bottle of milk to keep his kiddies from starvation, is Mr. Cruze, while Mr. Russell is the judge who has favored a rich thief and condemned a poor man. Miss Flo LaBadie plays, with her usual grace, the Spirit of Justice, who comes to rebuke the judge in his dream."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, October 16, 1912:

"One evening, the Spirit of Mercy [sic; the synopsis indicates Spirit of Justice] visits an old judge after he has sentenced a wretched young man to Blackwell's Island for stealing a bottle of milk, and he repents. The idea is not original by any means, but that does not make the picture less interesting, for the careful arrangement of scenes and the excellent acting covers up all spots that might be time worn. Through a series of troubled visions, the man sees the various victims of his decisions. He sees the rich man, a former friend of his, accused of crooked dealings, released on the grounds that such an accusation is ridiculous. He sees the poor man, many of them innocent and only partially guilty, suffering as a result of his injustice. And, at last, when weary and foot sore, he comes across the man whom he sentenced that morning. He sees the wife and children at home, suffering for the necessities of life, and realizes that strict unswerving justice is sometimes as bad as injustice, and that only when justice is tempered with mercy does it deserve that name. When he awakens from his dream he hastens to aid the man, and from then on proves himself more considerate of the unfortunates who come before him. James Cruze is cast as the judge, and Harry Benham as the poor man."

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