Volume II: Filmography

THE SPIRIT OF THE GAME

February 9, 1916 (Wednesday)

Length: 3 reels

Character: Drama; Than-O-Play

Director: Frederick Sullivan

Scenario: Clinton H. Stagg

Cast: Edwin Stanley (Dick Thorton), Kathryn Adams (his sweetheart), Morris Foster (the left-over), Ethyle Cooke (his sweetheart)

Location: Some scenes of a real Columbia University football game are shown, filmed at Columbia University, New York City

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, February 5, 1916:

"Realistic, brilliant and spectacular is The Spirit of the Game, a three-part Thanhouser drama based on the great American game. Life at college, on the campus, in the 'gyms' and the class rooms is depicted on the screen with vivid realism, and throughout is woven one of the prettiest stories of the heart ever presented on a motion picture screen.

"The Spirit of the Game deals with a college idol who was forced to make the college 'eleven' through his love for a pretty co-ed. Though having no great love for the game, he nevertheless sought and obtained a position on the team. But the best he could do was to be assigned to the leftover squad. It was the day before the big game, the winning of which meant so much to the college. That night the left-over stood at the window of his room, watching Captain Dick Thorton as he walked across the campus. The rules forbid Thorton, or any other member of the team, being abroad at night. Two hours later the left-over found Thorton drunk in the rear room of a notorious resort. Dragging Dick back to the campus, the left-over came upon the idol's sweetheart. Quickly he rushed the drunken man behind a bush, keeping him there until the girl had passed.

"The big game was on. In the stand the girl watched the pathetic figure of the man she loved. She was quick to realize the cause. In the dressing room the left-over sat alone. Suddenly Thorton collapsed. 'Take my place,' he commanded of the left-over. Quickly the left-over stepped forward, then stopped. A desperate scheme suggested itself. He was the same size and build as Thorton! In a moment he had changed uniforms with Dick and at the bell took his place in the line up. That college game went down in history. The supposed Thorton seemed to suddenly come to life. His plays were not only snappy, but so puzzling to the other side that they could do nothing with him. Of a sudden the hero faltered, then fell prostrate. His nose guard was knocked from his face. Then came the revelations."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, February 12, 1916:

"A three-reel college story, written by Clinton H. Stagg. Morris Foster appears as a disconsolate substitute, who thinks he is to be left out of the game. The captain of the game goes on a 'celebration' and the sub is called upon to take his place next day. He wins the game by a touchdown at the last moment, and later gets the girl. The story is a pleasing one and handled with a fair degree of strength. It has no very dramatic moments, but there is a real football game pictured, taken on the grounds of Columbia University."

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