BY MAN’S LAW (Biograph, US 1913)
Dir: W. Christie Cabanne; story: William Wing; cast: Charles Hill Mailes (the oil magnate), Alfred Paget (the oil magnate's son), Mildred Manning (the oil magnate's daughter), Alan Hale (brother Owner), Donald Crisp (Lee Calvert – brother Owner), Mae Marsh (Ann Calvert – sister Owner; rel. 17.11.1913.
And Robert Harron (young boy), Antonio Moreno (procurer / slaver), Dorothy Gish (at league meeting, n.c.).
English intertitles.
Grand piano: Donald Sosin.
Viewed at Cinema Ruffo, Sacile, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (GCM): Fort Lee, 15 Oct 2004
Richard Koszarski (GCM): "Because recent editions of the Giornate have screened dozens of Fort Lee Biograph films directed by D. W. Griffith, we have selected a non-Griffith title for this series. But there is enough plot here for at least three Biographs, with The Mother and the Law thrown in (“When man turns God, conflict and sorrow follow,” warns the Biograph Bulletin). In addition to considerable footage of Griffith’s familiar Bigler Street locales, the film also provides a rare glimpse of the industrial zone underneath the Palisades in Edgewater, probably the Valvoline or Barret Mfg. Company tanks." – Richard Koszarski (GCM)
AA: The narrative is inflammatory, but the approach is that of a restrained piece of social realism. This film is an interesting piece of social cinema. Themes include: – strikes – police interference – starvation – Money God – white slavery (= prostitution). Strong stuff, but the angle is that of sobriety.
Having seen hundreds of Griffith Biographs, it is interesting to see the familiar cast in a film by another Biograph director.
A good 16 mm print. The actual duration of the screening was 21 min [there is a mix-up of 35 mm and 16 mm lengths in the calculation of the festival information].
IMDb synopsis: "An oil tycoon corners the market, then cuts jobs and causes much suffering. Because she's lost her job, a young girl almost falls into the hands of white slavers."
Motion Picture World synopsis: ""Are the days of despotism over, when one hypocritical Money God can so sway the wheels of destiny that thousands of helpless men, women and children may be thrown defenseless upon the world?" So the editorial questioned. It served only as an impetus for the magnate to turn public opinion by philanthropy, while he continued to satisfy his own lusts at the expense of other lives."
"A two-reel number, following in the wake of numerous theatrical productions dealing with the white slave traffic. The story is strong and well pictured; it shows how the oil trust grinds down a family of independent producers, so that the girl eventually is forced to look for work on the street. She is followed by white slavers and dies at the close of the picture. This is rather sordid and pessimistic in type and cannot be called a pleasant story. At the same time it is well constructed and powerful in the emotions it excites." – The Moving Picture World, December 6, 1913
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