User Reviews

An unsophisticated country girl who nearly becomes the victim of a well-dressed scoundrel from the city is the heroine of "A Woman Alone," a five-reel Peerless screen drama on the Word Film Corporation program. Frances Marion, who wrote the scenario, has kept close to the approved and well-tried pattern for dramas of this order, in following the general outline of the story; but has shown considerable ability in putting the material together and in the use of local color. The discontent of the young wife who finds existence, at the lonely railway station, even with the man she loves, too much for her nerves, and who attracts the advances of the dissolute young cub whose father is president of the road, is an excellent motive, and the ensuing consequences are not overdrawn. The characters in "A Woman Alone" are all simple-minded folk and their mental processes result in the most obvious and matter-of-fact views of life; but, as it is also an undisputed fact that there exists a large number of faithful followers of the screen that take a deep interest in the fate of such persons, the drama under discussion more than justifies its being. Harry Davenport has directed it with skill and chosen the locations with a keen eye to the story's requirements. Alice Brady as Nellie Waldron, the unhappy young wife who learns her lesson by practical experience, has a part to which she is suited in every respect. She is in evident sympathy with the varying moods of the character and leaves herself open to possible criticism on but one point, the number of becoming frocks she wears that were never fashioned by a country dressmaker. Edward T. Langford is another happy choice on the part of the casting committee. His performance of Tom Blane is unlabored, forceful and physically satisfying. Arthur Ashley succeeds in giving his impersonation of young Carter the requisite stamp of conviction, and J. Clarence Harvey presents an equally truthful type of the modern master of finance. Edward M. Kimball, Justin Cutting and Walter H. Greene complete the cast. - The Moving Picture World, January 6, 1917