Volume II: Filmography

THE WOMAN IN POLITICS

Advertisement from Reel Life. (F-890)

Working title: THE POLITICIAN

January 13, 1916 (Thursday)

Length: 5 reels

Character: Drama; Mutual Masterpicture, DeLuxe Edition

Director: W. Eugene Moore

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Cast: Mignon Anderson (Dr. Beatrice Barlow), Arthur Bauer (Mayor Glynn), Ernest Howard (governor), George Marlo (secretary), W. Eugene Moore (health officer), Charles S. Gould

Locations: Some fire scenes were filmed in Mamaroneck, New York; some community scenes were taken in Port Chester, New York.

Note: This film was originally scheduled for release on Saturday, January 8, 1916, and then was rescheduled to January 13th; however, many trade schedules continued to run the uncorrected earlier date.

ARTICLE, The Sunday Metropolis, April 23, 1916:

"Declaring that 'Realism is the keynote of the movies,' George A. Grimmer, manager of the Thanhouser studio in this city, says many big situations can be staged for the motion picture that cannot be shown on the stage. From a number of realistic scenes which have come to his notice, Mr. Grimmer cites a few, which are as follows:

"An alarm of fire sounded one day last December in Mamaroneck, N.Y. The six fire companies responded promptly, and when they reached the scene of the fire they were told to go back, that they had not given the fire a chance. So very obligingly they drove their steamers, chemical engines, hose carts and hook and ladder trucks up the street, where they waited about a block away until there was a fire worthy of their efforts. In the meantime some of the people around the burning house carried in wood and poured kerosene oil to accelerate the blaze. The fact is the factory building was not furnished, except a few touches to give it the signs of occupancy. Finally, however, the fire got a good start; the firemen, upon being signalled, dashed up with their apparatus and went to work to extinguish the flames, and the hero dashed through fire and smoke to appear a few moments later with the heroine at a second story window, from which he jumped with her into fire nets below in safety.

"While all this was going on (it was in The Woman in Politics shown recently in one of the Jacksonville theatres), from the time the firemen responded to the call, a number of motion picture cameras were busy and the players were enacting their parts under the direction of a man who seemed to miss nothing and who thought of many things at one time. The director is as necessary to motion pictures as the sun is to vegetation. Think of the thousands of persons, or even more striking the thousands of audiences, all over the world, who were thrilled by this one scene, who wondered at the enterprise of the producers, and the daring of the actors; who said to one another or to themselves, 'This is no stage fire, this is reality.'"

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, January 1, 1916:

"What a woman with conscience, medical training and the courage to expose grafting and criminal politicians may do to rid her city of boss rule, is vividly shown in The Woman in Politics, a Mutual Masterpicture produced by Thanhouser, for release through the Mutual Film Corporation January 8th [sic]. This thrilling, up-to-the-minute play in five acts was written especially for Miss Mignon Anderson, a star of first magnitude if of diminutive stature. It would be impossible to enumerate all the brilliant successes which mark Miss Anderson's career at the Thanhouser studios. She is a favorite lead, however, in Masterpictures, and in The Woman in Politics is seen in a role which suits her admirably. It is an adventure up-to-date, showing the progressive, fascinating young woman of our times entering zealously into her public responsibilities as protector of society and the home against the unscrupulous greed of grafting office-holders. Beatrice Barlow, M.D., puts human life and happiness before money-making and the aggrandizement of wealth for those in high places. Of course she has many enemies, and powerful ones, too.

"Beatrice Barlow, the opening scene tells us, has recently been appointed to a place on the health commission of her city. She is advised by Joel Stevens, an old political warhorse drawing a salary as 'health inspector,' to loaf on the job and enjoy herself. But Beatrice takes her duties seriously. She turns in a report on a tenement house where the law has continually been violated, recommending drastic and expensive changes. Stevens gets a glimpse of the report and urges the girl to tear it up. 'The owner of that block is Mayor Glynn,' he warns her. 'Do you want to get fired?' Beatrice submits her statement, and is promptly discharged. The young doctor finds herself powerless to make the facts public, as the mayor owns the only newspaper of any consequence in town. Knowing that the governor may remove incompetent mayors, she sends her statement to him. A few days later, Dr. Barlow finds a case of smallpox in the same tenement. The head of the health department, fearing the wrath of the mayor, refuses to quarantine the building. Beatrice attempts to put up an official quarantine sign. The health officer interferes, and a strange young man appears and thrashes the officer. The tool of the boss hastens to the mayor. He finds that dignitary completely upset. He has just received word from the governor that charges have been filed against him by Beatrice Barlow, M.D., and that the hearing has been set for next month. 'That girl has the goods on me,' says the mayor. 'We must get her in bad somehow.'

"That same night, driving about town in the mayor's automobile, Glynn and his dupe plot how they will ruin Beatrice's reputation. They choose to hold their consultation in the car because there will be less risk of being overheard. But they reckon without the husky young man, Beatrice's champion, who rides with them, a stowaway in the tonneau. The young stranger forestalls the scheme before Dr. Barlow can be compromised. A few days later, the tenement belonging to Glynn catches fire. Beatrice, attending a sick woman on the third floor, is rescued with difficulty by the enterprising stranger. While he dashes back into the flaming building to save a child, hirelings of Glynn's seize the fainting girl, bundle her into a limousine, and drive off. The only witness to the abduction is a small boy. All that night and next day the young man hunts for the girl. At last, stumbling upon little Patsy Burns, his worst fears are confirmed. By clever detective work he locates Beatrice's prison, liberates the girl, and handcuffs her captors. The following day Glynn is convicted. The stranger, the head of the state admits, is his own private secretary. The grafting mayor and his accomplices go to the penitentiary."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, January 2, 1916: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

REVIEW by Louis Reeves Harrison, The Moving Picture World, January 8, 1916:

"A well-constructed and interesting story of timely theme, The Woman in Politics suffers principally from lack of good title. To announce the theme in advance is not so detrimental as to placard the plot in the title, but it is bound to detract from that pleasurable uncertainty as to the result of action which helps to sustain attention through five reels. The story is really one of a plucky girl's adventures in the political field, but less as a politician than as an honest and determined unit, who sets her puny will against organized graft, who would fail miserably but for the protection and guidance afforded by a young man of superior strength and mental research, the governor's private secretary.

"A young lady in public service, impersonated by Mignon Anderson, attempts to do her duty as a health commissioner regardless of consequences and finds that she is out of harmony with the organization. She unfavorably reports a tenement belonging to the mayor and loses her position. She appeals to the governor and is thereafter barely preserved from ruin by the timely appearance on the scene of a young man of extraordinary daring and acumen. Interest centers on this mysterious character from the moment of his appearance, a clever piece of photoplay construction, and interest intensifies by concealment of his identity. The mysterious and resourceful stranger, admirably impersonated by George Marlo, wins the plucky girl's battle for her through a series of sensational incidents, a stirring fight to the end."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, January 15, 1916:

"This five-part production from the Thanhouser studios presents one of the best constructed photoplays of the season. The plot is a good one, and is developed consistently. The story is an excellent plea for woman suffrage."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, January 15, 1916:

"The intensity of the story and its striking picturization far overshadow any of the other commendatory points in the picture. From the very beginning the plot arouses interest, which it holds to the very end; and, moreover, it is unique in its treatment. Ample opportunities have been given for heavy dramatic scenes, and they have been utilized to the greatest advantage; the fire scenes are particularly well taken. The settings throughout well serve their purpose. The cast as a whole is deserving of credit, although there is no one in particular who is better than the others. It is well balanced and the characterizations are very realistic.

"The story is that of a young woman doctor who is a city health inspector. In the course of her duties she condemns a building owned by the mayor, for which she is discharged. She writes to the governor and charges are preferred against the mayor. Further activities on her part threaten the downfall of the whole political machine in the city, and plans are made to kidnap her so she cannot appear against the mayor. Through the efforts of the governor's secretary a frame-up to put her in jail is foiled; but she is, however, lured to a sanitarium, where she is kept a prisoner. The young secretary while investigating the case finds her, and she furnishes the evidence on which the mayor is imprisoned. - S."

REVIEW, Variety, January 28, 1916: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

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