Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 7 (1914): The Release Schedule Continues

Forced to Be Stylish, the Princess offering of May 8, 1914, attracted scant notice, although The Moving Picture World found it to be "quite amusing" despite a plot which had been used earlier by many others. Lost - A Union Suit, issued on May 10th, told of Mab, played by Mignon Anderson, whose warm "union suit" undergarment begins to unravel and continues to do so until the last stitch is gone - all of this at a society ball. Following on May 12th was A Mohammedan Conspiracy, the last of four films in the Diplomatic Free Lance Series. The New York Dramatic Mirror liked the picture but doubted that the director knew much about Egypt, the setting for the subject, for the surroundings appeared to be American.

In Her Sleep, the Princess release of May 15th, was scarcely noticed by the press. In The Somnambulist, distributed on the 17th, Cyril Chadwick took the title role of Algernon (formal for "Algy"). The Moving Picture World commented: "This is widely advertised as a comedy that is bound to make 'em shriek, but the shrieks fail to materialize. Cyril Chadwick portrays the sleepwalker in an absurd way (perhaps it is the director's fault); sleepwalkers never extend their hands to discover obstacles; instinct guides them. Some funny situations pertain. Florence LaBadie saves the situation and offering." Taking a completely opposite view, The New York Dramatic Mirror found this to be a "carefully produced film." Perhaps its reviewer never somnambulated.

A Dog of Flanders, released in two reels on May 19th, was one of the more memorable Thanhouser films of its time. Marguerite Snow was cast as Nello, a Mr. Fischer appeared as Nello's grandfather, Justus D. Barnes was the rich miller, Mignon Anderson was the miller's daughter Alois, Carey L. Hastings was the miller's wife, and a canine named Flora played the title role. Reviews in The Morning Telegraph and The New York Dramatic Mirror each gave a different view of how the film ended:

The Morning Telegraph commented:

Little Nello finds and adopts a poor dog which has been left starving by the roadside. Nello's ambition is to become a great artist. The rich miller will not allow him to play with his little daughter, Alois, as he had done when a child, and he decides to paint a picture that will make him famous so that the miller will receive him at his house. He enters a competition, but the prize is awarded to a rich boy whose work is not nearly as good as his. He finds a wallet, and feeling somehow that it belongs to the miller, he returns it to him, even though his cottage has been confiscated and he is starving. When the miller comes home he wants to give the honest youth some reward. He searches for him, but it is too late. Nello and his faithful dog are both lying dead in the snow.

The New York Dramatic Mirror saw it this way:

Inadequacy of settings is the principal fault to be found with this picture from Ouida's story of Flanders. Otherwise it was a right smart little offering, featuring the petite actress, Marguerite Snow, and the actors lent what atmosphere the settings lacked. The picture was taken in a deep snowstorm, with the flakes falling fast. This part was very pretty. Then, in some scenes supposed to eventuate a few hours later the snow had been shoveled back from all the sidewalks. The action in itself was highly commendable, although also in places highly improbable.

The dog used in this picture is one of the most intelligent of animal actors that is has been our privilege to see in some time. He and the boy, between them, occupied a major part of the interest. The daughter of the miller loves the poor boy, but her father will have none of him. Then the grandfather dies, and the sheriffs come and drive him out of his home, and he and the dog wander away into the snow. The miller returns in his sleigh, and drops his well-filled pocketbook, which the boy finds. He returns the pocketbook, and in return asks that his dog be given a home. Later, the lad himself is given a home under the roof of the girl he loves.

A Circus Romance, the Princess film of May 22, 1914, featured Muriel Ostriche as bareback rider Papita. Next on the schedule was Algy's Alibi, on May 24th, with Cyril Chadwick as Algy. Pamela Congreve, produced in four reels and featuring Maude Fealy, Irving Cummings, Mignon Anderson, and Harry Benham, is believed to have been released by the Mutual Film Corporation on or around May 26th, but virtually nothing about it was mentioned editorially in the trade press. The picture was included in various advertisements, however. Note Was She Right in Forgiving Him, featuring Maude Fealy, was also issued on May 26th.

The Legend of Snow White, released on May 29th, saw Marion Fairbanks in the lead role as a statue of snow which comes to life as a little girl. A Telephone Strategy, the Princess release of the same date, was considered to be "pleasing, lively, exciting, and free from anything objectionable" by The Moving Picture World. On May 31st The Wheels of Justice was released, a film which included scenes taken in Ogdensburg, New Jersey. Out of the Shadows, issued on June 2nd, was Irving Cummings' first appearance in a Thanhouser film. Cummings played several roles in the production, which The Moving Picture World called "an excellent offering." His Enemy, the Princess film of June 5th, received scant attention in the press. Not so with The Scrub Lady, with Fan Bourke as the lady in question, screened on June 7th, which The Moving Picture World called "a very vulgar picture," because a lawyer, driven to distraction by the actions of his ferocious scrub lady, absentmindedly gives a brooch to his secretary, and his wife finds out. Then came Rivalry, released on June 9th. A pretty girl is fastened to a saw table, and inch-by-inch, moment-by-moment the deadly steel blade comes closer - in a melodramatic episode swiped from Blue Jeans, an old favorite of the stage.