Volume I: Narrative History

Chapter 9: 1916 Florence LaBadie

The Five Faults of Flo, a Mutual Masterpicture, Deluxe Edition released on January 20th, starred Florence LaBadie, and delineated one fault per reel: pride, envy, fickleness, extravagance, and jealousy. Louis Reeves Harrison had this to say in The Moving Picture World:

Picturing five separate sensation experiences in the life of a young lady of strong individuality, The Five Faults of Flo preserves a single line of interest. The story is of a very high school, one which is being followed by some of the most advanced of modern novelists, particularly those who are in love with human life. The play describes the state of a young girl's mind at different periods and succeeds in spite of the sensational incidents still deemed necessary by many directors to hold attention in a full-sized feature, though exactly the reverse is the case. Splendid characterization is the essential, one that depicts the mind and heart with the minuteness of a scientist, the charm of a poet, and the faithfulness of a historian.

The Five Faults of Flo is at its best when it mirrors the young girl's very soul, sort of a magic mirror, reflecting those depths rarely penetrated. It is at its worst in the fourth episode, where it depends upon material that has been used until it is nearly worn out. The whole idea is in harmony with the Thanhouser progressive spirit, but instead of subordinating revelation of the heroine's complex character, as in the fourth act, to strained situations, that whole idea might have been better eliminated by more subtlety of treatment, more fascinating psychology. Miss LaBadie appears to be fit for all of the opportunity that can be given her. Her work has improved so decidedly that she seems to have attained the intense personality necessary to enforce a leading role, one which only comes when an attractive woman rises out of self-complacency into artistry.

Advertisement for THE FIVE FAULTS OF FLO, released January 20, 1916, with Florence LaBadie. (Reel Life)

The Burglar's Picnic, a three-reel Than-O-Play released January 26th, featured the Fairbanks twins and was a film for the younger set. Betrayed, a five-reel Mutual Masterpicture, Deluxe Edition issued on January 29th, featured Grace DeCarlton as Little Fawn, an Indian girl, in scenes photographed on an Indian reservation at Salamanca, New York. The Morning Telegraph gave the picture high marks, while The Moving Picture World found it to be interesting but improbable.