Volume II: Filmography

A PEACEFUL VICTORY

October 17, 1913 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel (1,025 feet)

Character: Drama

Cast: Florence LaBadie (Alice, the daughter), William Russell (Mr. Fairly, her father), Marie Eline, Mr. Beaton (see note)

Note: An actor identified as Mr. Beaton had the male lead in this film, according to The Motion Picture Magazine, May 1914. This information is otherwise unverified.

ADVERTISEMENT, Reel Life, October 11, 1913:

"There was a great strike, and the men were being beaten. Then suddenly the manufacturer gave in. None were more greatly surprised at the surrender than the men themselves and now, for the first time, the outer world is apprised of the reason. It lay with a girl. Flo LaBadie and William Russell do notable 'team work' in this."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 18, 1913:

"A wealthy manufacturer was a harsh and unfeeling employer. He regarded his men as merely a part of the vast factory whose products were distributed throughout the world. The men's wages were small, and as the employer refused to grant an increase, a strike was called. The working men were no match for their stern employer. Their places were filled by others and day after day the strikers said their families were failing in health due to insufficient food. The manufacturer's daughter, who had just passed 16, had always been shielded from the world, and regarded her father as the kindest and best of men. She had reason for her belief, for the finest traits of his character were displayed to her. A glimpse of the real world which she had never known was revealed to her when the gardener captured a ragged child whom he found picking flowers on the estate. The girl witnessed the scene and took the child into the house. There she learned the story of a starving family whose means of livelihood had been taken away by the strike. She fed the famished little girl, and took food to the home. The rich girl was welcomed, for the striker and his family realized the spirit in which her gifts were meant. 'My father will surely take the men back,' she assured the striker, but her optimism was not justified, for when she spoke to her father, he sternly refused to grant her request. 'It is business, my dear,' he replied, 'and you don't understand it.' Worry over the problem, which she was powerless to solve, brought on a serious illness. Her father, business forgotten, was constantly by her side. In a moment of consciousness she pleaded once more with her father, and he yielded. The workmen returned to the factory, puzzled by the strange action of their employer, who had granted their demands as they were hopelessly beaten. The manufacturer was amply repaid for his action, for his daughter passed through her illness, and in her love and the respect and admiration of his employees, he found greater happiness than he had ever known."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, October 11, 1913:

"A wealthy manufacturer who ran his business on up-to-date methods, with the element of humanity left out, refused to grant his employees an increase in wages - with a strike as the result. The strikers, however, were no match for the captain of industry. Their places were filled, and, with their families, they began the slow process of starvation. Food became scarce - health poorer. The manufacturer's sixteen-year-old daughter naturally only saw him at his best - and wouldn't have believed a charge of cruelty against him if she had heard it. One day, she found a poor child from the tenements smelling the flowers in her garden - and, discovering that she was actually hungry, gave her a nice dinner. Finding that her family also were hungry, she carried food and clothing to them - hearing a part of their story when she did so. Totally unable to understand the situation, she asked her father to grant the strikers' requests and reinstate them - but he refused on the ground that no business could be run that way. This, and the picture of those starving families made her dangerously ill - until obeying what he feared might be her dying wish, he took the men back at their own terms. Subsequently, the girl recovered - and we suppose everyone was happy. The carping critic might raise a question, here and there, as to the probabilities in some of the details - but he could not deny that the story is intensely human and worked out pretty much as the events might occur. The relations between capital and labor are pretty clearly shown - possibly more clearly than some of our rich men would like to have them shown. And therefore, the play is likely to please the people at large."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 25, 1913:

"A strike story, in which good use is made of contrast between the rich and poor. The plot is very interesting and has a very human touch toward the close. The scenes are rather hurriedly put together in places, but this does not greatly mar the interest of the piece. William Russell and Florence LaBadie play the parts of father and daughter. An entertaining number."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, October 29, 1913:

"Declaring a 10% reduction in wages, Fairly, a factory owner, causes his hands to go on strike, which, in a few weeks, causes dire results among the families of the strikers. Fairly's daughter, Alice, learns of the plight of her father's employees and implores her father to put an end to the strike. Remaining obdurate in his stand, the girl secretly aids the most needy families. The sympathetic girl's visits to the tenements result in her contracting a severe illness [sic; this is somewhat inconsistent with the story line in the synopsis]. The capitalist, fearing for his daughter's life, listens to her plea on behalf of his men and puts them back on their former wage scale, turning strife and poverty into rejoicing at the factory and in the quarters. The scenes are dominated and given life by the efforts of the conscientious striker, and though they never attain a great height they are, nevertheless, full of action and color. The cameraman, as well as the heroine, deserves credit for scoring A Peaceful Victory."

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