Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
Helen Badgley "The Thanhouser Kidlet" and Shep "The Thanhouser Collie." Courtesy of Dominick Bruzzese. (F-792-2)
Helen Badgley and Shep in A DOG'S LOVE were featured on the cover of Moving Picture World, October 17, 1914. (Y-1)
October 4, 1914 (Sunday)
Length: 1 reel (1,007 feet)
Character: Drama
Director: John Harvey
Scenario: Nolan Gane
Cast: Shep (The Thanhouser Collie, as himself), Helen Badgley (Baby Helen), Arthur Bauer (Helen's father), Ethyle Cooke Benham (Helen's mother), Fan Bourke (a visitor)
Notes: 1. An article in Reel Life, October 10, 1914, noted: "Nolan Gane, the talented juvenile lead at Thanhouser, lately has written several successful scenarios. A Dog's Love already has been produced at the studio, and is one of the famous dog stories in which 'Shep,' the Thanhouser Collie, stars with such intelligence." 2. A note in The New York Dramatic Mirror, October 21, 1914, related: "Nolan Gane...has attempted his first scenario. A Dog's Love, recently produced at the New Rochelle studio, will give us a chance to tell Nolan what we think of him as a photoplaywright." 3. A scene from this film illustrated the cover of the October 17, 1914 issue of The Moving Picture World.
REVIEW, The Bioscope, January 28, 1915:
"Here is a perfectly delightful little film. Although it is true that its plot, what there is of it, contains nothing very new, it is not merely a conventional dog and child picture of the ordinary type. It is, rather, an exquisite pictorial fancy, charmingly conceived for the most part and charmingly executed throughout. So far as story is concerned, it shows how a little girl and a big collie dog are inseparable playmates, until one sad day the child falls ill [sic] and dies. Nothing will console the poor dog, who goes each morning to the churchyard where lies the body of his baby friend. The one night the spirit of the child appears to her old playmate and beckons him to follow her, and so the pathetic little tale comes to an end. Lest so sorrowful a finish should be unduly depressing, however, the child and dog players reappear on the screen to assure us that there is no need for tears, as 'it was only make-believe.' The picture is perfectly done, and not even in the ghost scenes toward the end is there anything banal or insincere in it. A film so full of tender sentiments and natural beauty should meet with the warmest of welcomes everywhere."
REVIEW by Kitty Kelly, The Chicago Tribune, October 5, 1914: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.
REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, October 17, 1914:
"Another story featuring the Thanhouser Kidlet and the big shepherd dog. The friendship between the little rich girl and the canine is very pretty, and when the child dies the dog carries flowers to her grave. This is well photographed and contains some genuine pathos. A good offering."
REVIEW by Louis Reeves Harrison, The Moving Picture World, October 17, 1914:
"This play becomes one of delicate pathos toward the end through some remarkable feats of double exposure, and it is one of beauty throughout because of the acting of a four-year-old tot, Baby Helen, a veritable star in her class. Shep contributes with exceptional intelligence - he is not eternally looking at his master out of scope for a word of command. The introduction of dogs and babies into screen plays where the action does not hinge upon their presence is the weak device of incompetent directors, but this baby is one of the most intelligent central figures ever exhibited on the screen, and the dog is where he belongs - it is his play. Baby Helen is one of those poor little rich girls without companions of her age, for she is not permitted to play with free-lance children in the street. She has a tea party of her own in the garden one day, with dolly as her guest, when Shep slips an investigating nose through the hedge and is informally asked to participate in some appetizing refreshments. 'I 'vite you to my party,' says Baby Helen, and Shep gravely pushes through a hole in the hedge. He sits down at the doll table and does not mince matters. He eats as though he enjoyed it.
"This is the beginning of a friendship which ripens an innocence which begets love. Baby Helen finds a listener to her prattle, and Shep warms to the generous and warm human tot. They become companions in the sort of relation that we only read about among grown-ups, that of disinterested friendship between creatures unrelated. Thus it happens one day that they are together when joy-riders run over Baby Helen and send her tiny soul adrift with an endless stream to eternity. Shep warns the family and brings help, but it is too late. He soon after follows the mourners to Baby Helen's grave. It is said that we are only fit to love when we comprehend the meaning and purpose of life. This sounds true, but we often wonder if intelligent dogs have not, if only in a vague way, some comprehension that they exist. They seem, in rare cases, to know the meaning of death. Perhaps they only guess at it, but their conduct often gives the impression that they deeply feel the loss of a friend, and it is known to a certainty that they have dreams.
"Shep carries flowers to the grave and even steals a watering pot for the flowers, but these tricks add little or nothing to the value of the portrayal. It is when the remarkable double exposures begin that the play becomes psychological, a powerful lack in Thanhouser features as a rule, and grows impressive. It is the spiritual that wins, and not the mere movement of characters through a series of incidents. I do not know what director handled this subject, but I suggest he apply his thought visualizations to the human characters of future stories. It is the exhibition of what passes in the minds and hearts of characters that brings an audience into closer sympathy with them and makes tense interest possible when melodrama merely brings a laugh. The double exposures are timed with such skill in this instance that all concerned in their production deserve high praise. They give beauty and dignity to a very simple story."
Modern Synopsis
(from surviving print)
(Museum of Modern Art)
POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL HAS NO ONE TO PLAY WITH
The poor little rich girl, Baby Helen, holds her doll and looks out the window of her home, to see a group of children playing ring-around-the-rosie, having a joyous time. The scene changes to Baby Helen going to a "tea party" set up in her yard, on a long wooden table with two wicker chairs. She holds her doll and looks very lonesome, all by herself, with no playmates. Baby Helen sits down and looks at her doll.
HER NEIGHBOR'S DOG, SHEP, IS HER BEST FRIEND
Shep, a collie, is shown going into his wooden doghouse, turning around, and then looking out the door. The film cuts back to Baby Helen alone at the table with her tea set, munching on a muffin. Cut back to Shep coming out of his doghouse. He looks up and barks. Cut to Baby Helen, who is happy upon hearing the bark and knowing that Shep is nearby. She takes a piece of the muffin and thrusts it through the boxwood hedge separating her yard from Shep's run. Shep begins to eat the muffin, and Helen comes through the hedge to watch him finish it.
"I 'VITE YOU TO MY PARTY"
Shep dashes from view, runs along the hedge, then comes through the greenery to the tea party. Helen stands up and with her finger gives instructions to Shep, who barks to acknowledge his understanding. Helen resumes her seat, breaks off a piece of muffin, and offers it to Shep. Helen and Shep enjoy the muffin. Shep is very happy and so is Baby Helen.
A WEEK LATER SHE IS SENT ON AN ERRAND
Helen comes through the hedge and skips gaily down the sidewalk. Shep barks at her from a nearby window. (Note: This differs from Louis Reeves Harrison's statement that Helen and Shep were out together.)
The scene shifts to a large touring car, which comes down the street and hits Baby Helen, who had stepped into its path.
Shep races to the rescue, tugs her dress at the waist, and, finding his efforts without avail, runs to Helen's wooden-frame house, jumps up against the screen door and barks, summoning aid. Out come her parents, who run into the street. In the meantime a passer-by picks Helen up and takes her from the street. All three adults and Shep run down the thoroughfare.
The scene changes to a room, with Helen stretched out on a bed, seemingly lifeless. A doctor, realizing that all life has gone from the limp figure, folds Helen's arms across her chest, and closes his satchel. She is beyond help. Her parents are grief-stricken and bury their heads in the pillow next to Helen. (A close viewing of the film shows that respiration is still taking place, however.)
The doctor, with his satchel nearby, writes a note. The scene changes again, to Shep on a front porch near a screen door, looking very sad.
A VISIT TO THEIR LOST DARLING
A cemetery scene shows tombstones amid grass and trees. Helen's mother and father slowly approach with Shep trailing about 20 feet behind. In the foreground is a group of flowers spread out on the turf, with temporary grave marker at the head. Heads bowed, the parents kneel and contemplate their child's grave. Shep, who remains in the background, is very sad, and his eyes are only half open. The camera lingers on Shep. The film then cuts back to the grave, where the parents are still grieving. They then stand up and, holding each other, slowly walk away, taking a different route from that used when they entered. In the distance is what appears to be a construction crane. Shep, sad and lonely, stays under a nearby tree.
Shep now approaches the grave site and stays by the flowers. He has a dream, and the film cuts to a sequence in which Shep is shown back at the party with his dear friend, Baby Helen.
HEARTBROKEN, SHEP REFUSES FOOD
Shep is back in his yard. Lying morosely on his side, he ignores his owner, who comes to offer food. His master pets him and tries to induce him to eat, pets him again, and does his best to entice Shep, but the collie simply turns over on his side again and won't even look at the food.
SHEP MAKES DAILY VISIT TO THE FLORIST
Unnoticed, Shep goes into a glass-window-fronted flower shop, bites a bunch of flowers, takes them in his mouth, and runs away. Now, Shep is at the cemetery and approaches the grave with his floral gift. He notices that a pot of flowers, which has overturned, has been added to the grave site since he saw it last. Shep drops his flowers on the others.
The scene now cuts to a stranger, a woman watering flowers at another grave. Shep barks, and the woman watches as Shep carries her metal watering can away with the handle in his mouth. The woman follows Shep, straightens the flowers on Baby Helen's grave, and picks up the bunch of flowers that Shep has brought. She holds the bouquet next to Shep as the camera iris closes slowly, and then all is dark.
The scene changes to Shep, back in his yard, lying on his side. His owner comes and pets him and, worried about Shep's lassitude, looks into his eyes. Shep is sad and lonely.
Now, the scene is of Shep standing on his hind feet, yelping and scratching on a screen door, apparently the door to Baby Helen's home. Then he lies on his side.
THAT NIGHT
Shep is in his yard, lying on his side near the hedge. He is dreaming, and as he does so, we see a wraithlike image of Little Helen superimposed on the hedge. Helen beckons Shep to come. Little Helen turns away. Shep gets up, and runs through the hedge.
A continuation of the dream sequence shows Helen leading Shep down a path in the cemetery, with Helen's ghostlike image superimposed over Shep. The apparition of Helen goes to her grave, and Shep comes to the grave site. It is night time. The ghostly image of Baby Helen stands over the grave, and, slowly, she sinks into the ground. Soon she disappears from view. With sadness in his eyes, Shep lies across the flowers on the grave. The camera iris closes as Shep grieves over the flowers.
DON'T CRY, IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE
Baby Helen, holding a bunch of flowers, and Shep, both appearing very much alive, hold each other, perhaps in heaven, although this is not clear. (This sequence may have been intended simply to remind children in the audience that it was just a story.)
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.