This early production of the Goldwyn Company -- later Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer -- is a real stinker. Various excuses have been offered, but looking at it as it exists in current form -- missing the last reel or two for the final act -- it fails because the leading lady is the mistress of acting-by-posing, still a popular style on stage in the 1910s, but totally unsuited for the intimacy of the big screen; key plot points are explained in titles and not shown in action; and I was constantly struck by the fact that things didn't work that way on Wall Street, even in the relatively wide-open days of a century ago. It's an idiotic melodrama in which we know that Charles Dalton is the villain because he is always smirking.
Most annoyingly, this is an Allan Dwan film and it is shot with no flair at all. The man who introduced D.W. Griffith to the crane shot does not do a single thing to keep our interest up. Apparently he was as bored as any audience trapped in the theater when this played. Avoid this one.
Most annoyingly, this is an Allan Dwan film and it is shot with no flair at all. The man who introduced D.W. Griffith to the crane shot does not do a single thing to keep our interest up. Apparently he was as bored as any audience trapped in the theater when this played. Avoid this one.
