Volume II: Filmography

 

YOUNG LORD STANLEY

  .

 

a.k.a. HIS ONLY SON(?)

October 25, 1910 (Tuesday)

Length: 1,000 feet

Character: Drama

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Notes: 1. A print of this film in the Library of Congress begins with the notation "HIS ONLY SON," in a format which differs from the subtitles to follow (all of which have "Young Lord Stanley" at the border). It is not known whether "HIS ONLY SON" was a title added later, or whether it was the first subtitle, and the original title is missing. 2. In a scene in the film, young Lord Stanley, while in America and after his father's death, reads a personal advertisement in a newspaper: "INFORMATION WANTED of son and heir of late Lord Stanley. Apply Snaith, Room 472, Hotel Astor." The unusual surname of Snaith was to appear in later Thanhouser film titles. An analysis of a frame of the film (in a print preserved by the Library of Congress) shows that Thanhouser pasted a typeset advertisement on a sheet from a newspaper edition dated September 21, 1910.

 

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, October 22, 1910:

"Young Lord Stanley is a nobleman whose innate democracy permits of his doing manual labor when his funds grow low and who, while engaged at his menial labors, falls deeply in love with his employer's daughter, who takes a fancy to him - though he is below her station in life, she thinks. How, when once the tide of fortune runs his way, the young Lord's suit takes an odd turn, and what that turn is, are some of the points the picture explains to perfection."

 

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 29, 1910:

"Lord Stanley disinherits his only son, Jack, because he refuses to marry his cousin, the Lady Maude. Jack comes to America without funds, and having no business training, accepts a position as groom in the establishment of a wealthy American. Jack soon falls in love with Ann, the daughter of the house, when his affection is discovered by Ann's father, Jack is ordered off the place. When his fortunes are at their lowest ebb, Jack receives news that his father has passed away, and just before his death, in a spirit of forgiveness, willed him his entire fortune. Introduced by his lawyer, who happens to be an old friend of Ann's father, Jack once more enters the home in which he has been employed, but this time bearing his rightful title. Ann, who has been urged by her father to win the affections of young Lord Stanley, who is reputed to be very rich, is prepared to treat him coldly. Upon finding, however, that the young Lord is no other than the groom who won her heart, she gives Jack quite a different sort of reception."

 

REVIEW by Walton, The Moving Picture News, November 5, 1910:

"A bright, clean, human interest tale. It holds the attention from beginning to end. A thoroughly commendable reel - in every way."

 

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, November 5, 1910:

"Whether this film will have any influence in inducing girls to accept the attentions of fathers' grooms on the supposition that they may be wealthy lords in disguise remains to be seen. But this girl, at least, was wooed and virtually won by a lord, who, down on his luck, had sought temporary employment as a groom. It is a romantic picture, affording ample opportunity for the imagination to run riot in a number of different directions. The spirit of the girl is best shown when she refuses to see the young Lord Stanley, whom her father wishes her to wed. But when she discovers that the groom to whom she had previously given her heart was Lord Stanley his reception is quite different from what she had originally planned. Much of human nature is disclosed in this film, even though it is, in a way, a travesty upon the way wealthy girls often fall in love with stablemen or others employed about their fathers' places."

 

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, November 2, 1910:

"A young English nobleman who leaves home because his father wants him to marry a woman he doesn't fancy, comes to America, runs out of money, hires out as a groom, wins the love of a rich American girl, is discharged because papa catches him kissing daughter, learns of his father's death, and enters into his lordly estate, calls at the American girl's house as an honored guest, is recognized and welcomed - 'Bless you, my children!' - and all ends happily. Very mushy, isn't it? However, it is very well acted, with a few incidental exceptions, and will please those who like stuff of that kind. In the scene where old Lord Stanley makes a new will, would he have destroyed the old will by tearing it across once and throwing it on the floor? This is a common fault of actors - throwing things on the floor. And why the necessity of a will anyhow? Estates of this kind in England are usually entailed, and even if the young lord had been a pauper his title would have been enough for most rich American girls. Again, when the young lord appears at the American's home, the girl's indifference to the titled guest is overdone - refusing to look at him when introduced."

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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.