Volume II: Filmography

THE VACANT CHAIR

(Princess)

January 23 1914 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Director: Carl Louis Gregory

Assistant director: Claude Seixas

Cameraman: Carl Louis Gregory

Cast: Carey L. Hastings (grandmother), Boyd Marshall (her grandson), Muriel Ostriche (Dorothea), Morgan Jones

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, January 17, 1914:

"She was a lovable but hard-headed old lady - and she was determined that no other woman should ever take her dead daughter's place. So when her widowed son falls in love with a newcomer to the town - a very attractive young widow - she is so displeased that she exiles him from the old home, though still welcoming her grandson as a frequent visitor. The son marries the widow - and the town approves. But grandmother does not relent. Then, she begins to be very lonely. A young girl becomes friendly with the solitary old lady - and they grow to love each other. One day the grandson comes - and finds with grandmother Dorothea, the daughter of his father's new wife. Already, grandson is secretly in love with the new girl, who is remarkably pretty and sweet. She darts out of the house when she sees him - leading him on a chase down the street - and grandmother follows them. They all come together in the house of the recently married son. Grandmother learns then, who her winsome young companion of many lonely weeks is - she sees her son and Dorothea's mother happy together - and the portrait of her daughter still hanging on the wall, honored by the second wife. Grandmother is convinced that she has been unreasonable. She asks forgiveness - and they all gather round her, lovingly. And grandmother is perfectly happy."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, January 25, 1914:

"This story is a simple everyday one, which has an appeal that should be far-reaching. The characters, the chief of whom are portrayed by Muriel Ostriche, Boyd Marshall and Carey L. Hastings, are ones that might be met any day, and thus there is a strong element of human interest in the story. When her grandson marries a pretty widow, grandma is much displeased because of the idea she has that no one should ever displace her dead daughter. She never goes to see the young couple, but in her lonely hours is comforted by the companionship of a pretty young girl, lately arrived in town. Later she discovers that this girl for whom she has developed a great affection is the stepdaughter of her son, and that her grandson is in love with her. Thus all ends happily."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, February 7, 1914:

"Full sympathy cannot be given the normal spectator to anything morbid. In this picture, the old grandmother who makes memories of the dead tyrannize over the living will not be wholly popular. The story deals with her cure through her love for her grandson, but until this begins to come out, it has an unpleasant taste and the whole picture suffers from her keeping the dead daughter's place always set at the table and her not allowing any other to occupy it. It is well acted, but the direction might have made entrances and exits in a few scenes less awkward. The photography is clear and it is, as a whole, fair."

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