Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 10: 1917 September Releases

Two Thanhouser films were released on September 9, 1917. One was War and the Woman, starring Florence LaBadie and released through the Pathé Exchange. Reviews were mostly favorable.

The Photoplay Magazine commented:

War and the Woman is the Thanhouser-Pathé contribution to the current flickerature of the embattled world. Here again the spy theme, but without the ponderous attempt to bolster up improbabilities by hitching a vanload of fiction to an ant of fact.

In War and the Woman a man is discovered by his stepdaughter to be furnishing some unnamed foreign foe of America with valuable data. She runs away, becomes the wife of an army aviator, and then the country is invaded. The enemy gains important advantages, and the girl is made prisoner in her own home by officers of the typically brutal and amorous type originally invented, if memory serves correctly, by J. Stuart Blackton [in The Battle Cry of Peace, 1915]. These fellows are so busy lovemaking it is strange they win so many battles. But let that pass.

The girl's husband gets a message to her that he will be at a certain spot with his aeroplane at a certain time. She manages to obtain a large quantity of explosive, and as she escapes sets off the powder so the house blows up, destroying the leaders of the invading army, and presumably, leaving their forces helpless. Little pretense is made that this is based upon fact or probability. It is sheer fiction, and as such quite equal to half of the war yarns that are spun in magazines. It is entitled to more than perfunctory notice, moreover, because Florence LaBadie, seldom favored with good scenarios, here has more than customary opportunity to display her beauty and her talent.

Wid's Film and Film Folk printed this as part of a lengthy review: "[It is] just an ordinary movie, and although there are one or two patriotic speeches by the heroine, it never at any time becomes a production worthy of serious consideration on the part of intelligent fans."

The other Thanhouser release of September 9, 1917 was The Man Without a Country, a six-reeler distributed by a new firm, Jewel Productions, Inc. Presumably, the picture was rejected by the Pathé Exchange. Jewel began business on August 26, 1917 from offices located at 1600 Broadway in New York City and other cities. Note The firm announced that it was going to handle approximately one production per month, buying the film from the manufacturer and distributing it through exchanges set up in various cities. The first feature purchased was Come Through, made by the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, which was scheduled to be available about the middle of September in New York City and elsewhere shortly thereafter.

Reviews of The Man Without a Country were favorable, as were the printed commentaries on nearly every Thanhouser film of the era. Variety printed the following:

Jewel Productions, incorporated a few weeks ago, has acquired from Thanhouser The Man Without A Country, a screen version of Edward Everett Hale's story of the same name. It is the fourth of a series they [Jewel] will offer to the trade, the first being Come Through, the second Pay Me, and the third Sirens of the Sea.

Lloyd Lonergan wrote the present day version of the Hale classic, and Ernest C. Warde, who did The Vicar of Wakefield for Thanhouser, is the director. The cast is a large and excellent one, headed by Florence LaBadie and H.E. Herbert, and the lighting and photography are noteworthy features. Thanhouser has made of The Man Without a Country an up-to-date counterpart of the situations which confronted Philip Nolan in the original tale, which is laid in the time of Aaron Burr. In the novel Nolan is on trial for treason and in a burst of anger declares that the United States be damned and he hopes he may never hear of it again. He is sentenced to spend the remainder of his days on a warship, and specific and strict instructions are given that he is never to receive any news of his country for the remainder of his days. He thus spends 55 years and dies full of remorse.

The picture opens with two children, a boy and a girl, left orphans. They go to live with their aunt and uncle, and when the girl grows up she becomes betrothed to a wealthy young man who stands with the uncle for strong pacifist tendencies. The United States declares war upon Germany and the boy enlists. When the man engaged to the sister declines to enlist she gives him back his engagement ring and goes to France as a Red Cross nurse. On the way back, on leave, the steamer is torpedoed and it is believed she has been drowned. Even this does not inspire a desire for enlistment, and the young man, when solicited to enlist at his club, says exactly the words uttered by Philip Nolan in independence times. The man to whom he utters them was an old friend of his father's, and that night he brings to the man a copy of the E.E. Hale book, begging him to read it. He does so and the Philip Nolan life story is visualized, the engaged pair being witnesses of the events through the aid of double exposure. The next morning he enlists; his fiancée returns home and is locked in his arms.

The picture is wonderfully impressive and a strong argument for recruiting. As such it should receive the endorsement of army and naval officials throughout the country. All told it is probably the finest production ever turned out by Thanhouser and should prove a big money maker. - Jolo.

Under False Colors was released through the Pathé Exchange on September 23, 1917. Once again, reviews were favorable. Robert C. McElravy wrote this for The Moving Picture World:

Intensely modern in every inch is this five-reel production, written by Lloyd Lonergan and directed by Emile Chautard. It tells a lively and stirring tale of present times, with the recent Russian revolution as a background.

Frederick Warde gives dignity and sympathy to the part of the American millionaire, John Colton. Mr. Warde plays with the grace and finish that has been his through long years of histrionic fame. Jeanne Eagels is remarkably attractive as the Countess Olga, a young girl of the Russian nobility, who comes to this country to procure funds for the revolution. Her features are expressive and well adapted to the screen, and she had just the right touch of naive eagerness and wonderment to give strength to certain scenes. The story is quite complicated and entertaining so far as the plot is concerned, and the presentation is adequate throughout, though not particularly lavish in settings. It is carried chiefly by the good acting in evidence through its course.

Countess Olga is befriended in Russia by Jack Colton, son of the American millionaire who gives her money and passport to bring her to this country. On the trip over she meets Vera Ladislaus, a friend of the Coltons. The ship is torpedoed and Vera dies. Olga then takes her place and goes to the home of John Colton, who takes her in, believing her of course to be Vera. There is a scene of unusual dramatic strength where Vera's father comes and Olga does not recognize him. A little more suspense in certain of the latter scenes would have helped, but the story interest is so strong that its absence is not greatly felt. Others in the cast are Robert Vaughn, Anne Gregory, and Carey Hastings.