Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 7 (1914): Autumn Activities

In the meantime, advertisements were beginning to appear for Zudora, the successor to the still-running serial, The Million Dollar Mystery. Note Much more would be written about Zudora in months to come.

Thanhouserites were becoming increasingly active on stage, perhaps as an emotional outlet to compensate for the uncertainty and lack of management direction at the studio. The New Rochelle Pioneer, October 17, 1914, reported:

Principally because they are so well known here, Sidney Bracy and Frank Farrington are scoring the season's vaudeville sensation at Loew's Theatre this week, in a mixture of photoplay and songs with chatter under the title of "The Butler and the Villain," by John William Kellette, who conducts a column of motion picture people in another column of the Pioneer. To say anything further than the fact that the two are the headliners at the local playhouse would be spoiling the fun, for each and every individual should turn out and see the pair, with an eye for the possibility of annexing that $10,000 prize offered for the solution of the Million Dollar Mystery, in which both are featured. They are supported by two other good and clever acts, in Sandy Shaw, a Scotch comedian, who impersonates Harry Lauder, and Kelso and Leighton in a "nut" comedy skit with pianologues....

The Thanhouser Film Corporation's release schedule continued with The Face on the Window on October 23rd, Mr. Cinderella on the 25th, and A Madonna of the Poor in two reels on the 27th. The last-named film received mixed reviews, with The New York Dramatic Mirror noting: "The pleasing appearance and expressive acting of Muriel Ostriche give the picture an interest that it might otherwise lack."

The Dead Line, a Princess film released on October 30, 1914, was followed by Shep's Race With Death on November 1st, The Turning of the Road on the 3rd, the Princess film When Vice Shuddered on the 6th, and Keeping a Husband on the 8th. Most reviews were favorable.

Variety reported on October 31st:

Important changes are understood to be pending in the executive department of the Mutual Film Corporation, but just what nature is unknown. Some minor developments have become public, however. One of these is said to be the extension of the powers of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, made up of three members. These are Harry Aitken, president and general manager of the corporation; Crawford Livingston, of the New York Moving Picture Corp., and a Thanhouser official who succeeded the late Charles Hite. It is understood that the powers and command of the executive committee has been given larger powers in the direction of the concern than it formerly exercised, but whether its powers supersede those of the president is not taken. Mr. Aitken himself declined through his secretary to comment on the matter.

The New Rochelle Pioneer, October 31, 1914, printed an observation on another matter: "There is considerable conjecture as to who will be sent to the Coast when the new Thanhouser cast is sent there to do pictures this winter under the perfect conditions to obtained at Los Angeles. Lloyd F. Lonergan's recent trip to the Coast is understood to have been in the relation to the opening of the Brooklyn Heights studio, where many Thanhouser classics were made after the destructive fire in 1913. Everybody wants to go." As weeks went on, no Thanhouser troupe departed westward, and eventually the idea was dropped.

In November 1914 it was announced that Arthur Ashley, formerly a leading man with Vitagraph, had been signed by Thanhouser to appear with Florence LaBadie in dramatic films of two-reel length. Ashley "brings to the Mutual ranks a youthful and exceedingly attractive personality," a report in Reel Life Note noted. The account went on to say: "A public which already appreciates the rare quality of Miss LaBadie's work on the screen will be apt to demand an equally high standard of her new 'opposite' - nor are that talented young actress' admirers to be disappointed. Mr. Ashley has a splendid record behind him - and a yet more brilliant future in prospect. He has the imagination and the physique for really big things as well as the manliness and the education required to companion Miss LaBadie's refinement and charm. Wonderful teamwork may be expected of this congenial pair. He will be seen for the first time in Thanhouser pictures in The Winner Wins, a two-reel release now in the making, which has an exciting auto race for its climax." The Winner Wins was retitled The Speed King before its release early the next year. The studio's expectations notwithstanding, Arthur Ashley remained in New Rochelle for only a few months.

The Terror of Anger, released on November 10, 1914, was filmed in nearby Larchmont, New York and featured Mignon Anderson and Morris Foster in the leading roles. The Moving Picture World commented: Note "This story contains a dream in which the father, deserted by his wife, takes his son and brings him up in the wilderness. The return to primeval conditions is much better than the average effort along this line. The girl's experiences with the father and son are full of romantic interest and have none of the vulgar touches so often found in these situations. The dream comes to a close during a struggle on the cliff between father and son. The father then determines to remain in civilization. This is well pictured and holds the interest firmly."

The Chasm, released on November 13th, was directed by James Durkin and included Marguerite Loveridge in the cast. Among the news items of the time was a notice in Reel Life: Note "Announcement is made that the Thanhouser company has engaged the services of Marguerite Marsh, a sister of Mae Marsh, who has gained such enviable fame in Reliance and Majestic productions under the tutelage of D.W. Griffith. Miss Marsh, under the name of Marguerite Loveridge, recently played leads under Director Fred Mace at the Majestic studios, Los Angeles. She will in the future be a member of the Thanhouser stock company in New Rochelle, New York." As it turned out, Miss Marsh stayed with Thanhouser only briefly.

The Moving Picture World gave The Chasm a mixed review: "A very fair offering with beautifully made scenes, though the acting, while also fair, is not really strong. It is a mental chasm referred to and lies between a girl and her father. She had met a burglar who had come to rob the house. Repentance had made him write to her father, saying that he would return the things taken on promise that he could come with them safely. The father promised, but then he notified the police and the young man was arrested and spent his time in jail. This is not one of the strongest situations."

Thanhouser's films on the Mutual program continued with the Princess release of Seeds of Jealousy on November 13th, followed by The Man With the Hoe on the 15th. The latter film featured Marguerite Loveridge, who with her fiancé, played by Frank Wood, studied the famous painting of the film's title and then became embroiled in an argument about the worth of the common laborer when her lover says that such work is beneath him. The two separate. Her erstwhile fiancé becomes broken in health and eventually gains work on a farm, where Marguerite encounters him working with a hoe. He has learned his lesson.

Pawns of Fate, released in two reels on November 17th, was followed in succession by the Princess offering, A Bum Mistake, on the 20th and A Messenger of Gladness on the 22nd, the last a film split with Nature's Celebrities. In A Messenger of Gladness, little Helen Badgley, the Thanhouser Kidlet, takes a walk on Thanksgiving morning and spreads cheer throughout the neighborhood. Sweethearts become reunited, an alcoholic swears off liquor and embraces his wife, and other good things happen. Nature's Celebrities, probably filmed at the Bronx Zoo, offered close-up views of an Indian cobra and an African chameleon. Around the same time it was reported that Good Fellowship, a Christmas-theme film starring Marguerite Loveridge, was being screened publicly, but little official information about the picture ever appeared in print.

Mrs. Van Ruyter's Stratagem, released on November 24, 1914, was advertised as: Note "A drama depicting the life of a wealthy widow who doubts the character of the relatives who are to inherit her fortune. Her lawyer suggests that she change places with her housekeeper and invite the relatives, who live in different states, to visit her. In the position of housekeeper she discovers a plot between the butler and her niece to discredit the new maid. She succeeds in having this matter righted. She finally makes a new will much to the sorrow of all of her relatives. A very interesting play cleverly acted...." Carey L. Hastings took the title role while Fan Bourke essayed the part of the housekeeper. This film was one of the most extensively reviewed Thanhouser pictures of the time. Commentaries were favorable.

The Wild, Wooly West, released under the Princess banner on November 27th, included scenes taken in the Garden of the Gods park in Colorado Springs. John Lehnberg starred as a would-be cowboy from the East who orders a complete Western outfit from a Chicago mail order house. He buys a train ticket to Colorado, and upon arriving in Colorado Springs is dismayed to find that the city is more up-to-date than most Eastern cities. Finally, he takes a job on a farm.

A Denver Romance, released on November 29th, featured Mignon Anderson, Morris Foster, and John Lehnberg. Dr. James M. Perkins, mayor of Denver, had a cameo role in which he performed a wedding ceremony. The mayor's appearance was arranged by Robert Ruble, a Denver railroad official who also appeared briefly as best man.