Volume II: Filmography

THE TWO SISTERS

February 21, 1913 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: Jean Darnell (the older sister), Florence LaBadie (younger sister), William Garwood (the husband)

Note: The Motion Picture Story Magazine, June 1913, stated that for a film, Sisters, Marguerite Snow played the part of Jess, William Garwood was the lawyer, and Jean Darnell was the doctor's sister. No Thanhouser film with this name has been traced, and the listing seems to have been a mix-up of information from A Sister's Sacrifice (released May 21, 1912) and the present film.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, February 22, 1913:

'Useful' and 'Ornamental' would apply to them. The 'Useful' sister loved a lawyer who finally became enamored of the 'Ornamental' one - who, as is apparent, was stronger on looks. He was a fickle fool who really didn't deserve the persevering girl Miss 'Useful' was, and she, in turn, wasn't deserving of the heartaches inflicted upon her by her sweetheart's and Miss 'Ornamental's' elopement. And she for the heartache when her sister, through the worthless husband's ill treatment, needed her.

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, February 22, 1913:

One sister was useful; she was a hard working doctor in a little country town. The other sister was ornamental; she was young, pretty, stylish and thoroughly selfish. The doctor worked hard to keep her sister in luxury. When their parents died, they had left the little girl as a sacred legacy to their elder child, and she never forgot it. The doctor had a sweetheart, a young lawyer, who was far from being the manly chap she thought him. He met the little sister when she returned on summer vacation from her fashionable boarding school, and promptly forgot the vows of love he had made the elder girl. The doctor awoke one morning to find that her sister and her sweetheart had eloped, leaving only an indifferent message behind them. It took from her life all she had to love and from that time on she tried by hard work to forget her sorrows.

Five years later, the schoolgirl was a haggard, worn woman, city gaiety had wrecked her constitution, and her husband, who had wedded her only for her beauty, began to regret his bargain, when he saw he had an invalid on his hands. He cruelly deserted her, as cruelly as he and the woman had gone away five years before. Fortunately for the neglected wife, she still had one friend, the sister she had wronged. The doctor worried about the girl, and something, perhaps it was intuition, led her to search for her sister just when the younger woman needed her most. She found her broken in heart and spirits, but the doctor, through her medical skill, was able to restore her physically, though it was a long time before her mental calm came back to her, and she never forgot that everything she was or had she owed to the big sister who had repaid deceit with love.

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, February 23, 1913:

One of the most dramatic stories which has recently been released, and one with as strong a heart interest as can be recalled. Of the two sisters the older is a physician and the younger a brainless, selfish girl, who wins the regard of the elder's fiancé and elopes with him. After a few years, during which time her husband has come to neglect her, the younger sister becomes ill and weak in body as well as mind. But the older sister finds her, and through her medical knowledge brings her back to health, thus repaying good for evil. The two parts are admirably handled and the action is sustained to a nicety all of the way through.

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, March 1, 1913:

An interesting story of a young woman doctor and her younger sister. The younger sister is badly spoiled and runs away with the older girl's lover. Five years later, after leading a fast society life, her health is wrecked. Her husband deserts her, but the older sister comes to her aid and eventually restores her health. The picture ends without showing what became of the husband. Nicely acted and well pictured.

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, February 19, 1913:

The really noble character of the elder sister in this picture makes the story a morally elevating object lesson. She is a doctor in love with a lawyer, and is also very strongly attached to her younger sister, spoiled and selfish. When the girl returns from school the lawyer is attracted by her good looks and in an incredibly short time they elope. Soon the health of the girl is broken by the gayeties of New York life, and the husband, becoming tired of his invalid wife, deserts her. The still devoted elder sister sees in a vision the danger menacing the foolish girl and comes to her assistance. Leading a natural life in the open country, health is soon restored. Some scenes in the picture have the ring of truth about them, although the plot is old and artificial.

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