Volume II: Filmography

THE WOMAN PAYS

January 27, 1914 (Tuesday)

Length: 3 reels (3,026 feet)

Character: Drama

Director: W. Eugene Moore, Jr.

Scenario: Maude Fealy

Cast: Maude Fealy (Margaret), Gardner Crane (James Watson, her husband), Helen Badgley (their son, four years old), Nick S. Woods (butler), James Cruze (Jack Dacres), Carey L. Hastings (Susan, the landlady), William Schappe (the son as an older person)

Notes: 1. This film was erroneously listed in certain March 1914 Mutual Film Corporation publicity as having a release date of February 4th. It was originally planned as a one-reel release, first increased to two reels, and finally to three. 3. The above cast listing is from Reel Life, January 24, 1914. Certain other listings, for example in The Motion Picture Magazine, August 1914, transposed the roles of Crane and Cruze.

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, January 24, 1914:

"Watson was so absorbed in business that he did not realize that he and his wife were drifting apart. Away from home, night after night - she never doubted his truthful excuses. But when he surprised her - coming home unexpectedly one evening - with Jack Dacres, a reckless fellow, moving in their social set, and appearances were against her, Watson suspected her of the worst. In his fury, he drove her from the house - and though later he as impulsively relented, circumstances had by then ensnared Margaret and compromised her reputation so seriously that he gave her up forever - and she was obliged to seek refuge with a man who had caused her ruin. Twenty years later, she and Dacres are running a gambling house in New York, when a young district attorney enters in the guise of a player, to secure evidence and order a raid. The woman recognizes the young attorney as her own son whom she has not seen since a baby. When a scuffle ensues between him and Dacres, she grapples with the gambler, who shoots himself by accident - and thus saves the life of the young Watson. In his gratitude, he prevails upon his father, who is an influential lawyer, to defend the unknown woman, who has been arrested for murder. Not until the lawyer meets his client in the prison cell does he know that it is his wife whom he has promised to vindicate. For the sake of the son, her identity is kept a secret between them - Watson wins the case - and Tom Watson is satisfied."

REVIEW, The Bioscope, May 14, 1914:

"A conventional melodrama as regards its plot and general character, this excellent film is notable for the admirable manner in which it is presented. The story is developed in a series of beautifully mounted, naturally acted scenes, without a moment's relaxation of the dramatic tension, which is sustained at a high pitch throughout. The life history of an unhappy woman whom the Fates conspire to crush, it is one of those tales which are always popular. Miss Maude Fealy gives a sympathetic performance as the unfortunate heroine, whose downfall is brought about not through any fault of her own, but as the result of various unlucky chances which are made the most of by the unscrupulous man whose selfish love has so tragic an ending. Mr. Gardner Crane is particularly fine as the implacable husband who remorselessly turns away his wife when, as he believes, he has proved her guilty of an intrigue with another man. This must have been a difficult character to render convincing, and it is greatly to Mr. Crane's credit that we are always able to believe in the probability of all he does. The play ends sadly, but it is immensely effective throughout, and, although its plot is somewhat melodramatic, it is so well acted as to seem completely realistic. The staging is so magnificent, the various scenes showing the raid on a gambling house being especially well mounted. The picture has been produced with the utmost care for realism of details as well as of general effect, and there can be little doubt but that it will prove immensely successful."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, February 1, 1914:

"Maude Fealy was the author of this drama and she also appears as the principal. Her role is a difficult one, but is played with great effectiveness. With Miss Fealy in the cast are James Cruze, Mr. Crane, Nick Woods, Carey Hastings and the Thanhouser Kidlet. The story is really a pointed and most truthful illustration of the eagerness with which society seizes on the least thing which will ruin a woman's name and put her beyond the pale. In this case the woman was innocent of any wrong, and it was only her husband's neglect that caused her to appear in a compromising situation.

"James Watson was a business man who spent so much unnecessary time at this office that his wife was nearly distracted for want of something to do and for some companion. Jack Dacres, a fast youth of their set, cultivated her acquaintance with no good intention, but it was through sheer ennui and desire for amusement that she took any interest in him. One evening her husband found the pair in what he sanctimoniously considered a compromising situation. He drove his wife from the house, but soon repented. However, his repentance came too late. The woman went to the man who had ruined her name. Many years after, the pair were running a gambling house in New York, when a young district attorney entered to get evidence for a raid. The woman recognized him as her son. In a row which occurred her lover was killed, and the woman implicated. The young lawyer asked his father, who was a famous attorney, to defend the woman, as he believed her innocent. He agreed without knowing who she was. When they met they agreed to keep the secret for the sake of the son. The husband did his best and the woman was acquitted."

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

"A three-part offering with some tremendous situations that will be effective in their appeal to audiences; for, although the method of arriving at them is not wholly convincing, the producer's art appeals to our emotions and in doing so distracts our attention from the mean views. We see this innocent society woman helpless with deep pity, but her weakness is harder to sympathize with, the more because another half hour struggle would have righted her. This weakness is a bit unpleasant in a picture that does not deal with true life. Maude Fealy is featured in the leading role, with James Cruze as the villain, and both are about as good in their parts as we could ask. There are numerous incidents in it filled with convincing realism, and the whole is a credit to its producer. But it is not a story that can be wholly fortunate on the screen. It is harder to make an essentially weak story convincing on the screen than on the stage."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, January 28, 1914:

"This is a strong three-reel drama, about as strong and vital a story as is turned out in a week's output of film dramas. The play stirs. It is a story of the elemental passions in man and woman that will come to the surface whether it be in the wilds of the jungle or, as here, in the most luxurious of homes. True, the offering has some melodrama touched to it at all times, but it is interesting, well pictured and finely acted. The one unnecessary part of the play was that the woman should die at the finish. The finish, in fact, is much weaker than the beginning, although the gradual diminution is hardly noticeable. The acting of Miss Fealy and Mr. Cruze, of course, is of the best that can be asked for. The plot is the old triangle, social, in which the husband unjustly suspects his wife. Starving, she goes to live with the other man, and twenty years later is seen running a fashionable gambling house. Her son raids the place, and, having been saved by her from death, seeks a lawyer to defend her. He secures his father, not knowing of the relationship, and the father, sooner than reveal the past, defends the woman, his wife, still in ignorance [sic; this is inconsistent with other story lines]."

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January 30, 1914 (Friday)

No Thanhouser release because of the three-reel production of the preceding Tuesday.

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