John Faulkner has Arthur Greenaway arrested for some undefined betrayal and theft. Greenaway pleas for mercy; he did it for his sick wife. It is for naught, and he goes to jail. His wife dies, and he swears vengeance on Faulkner.
Twenty years go by and he is the wealthy head of the biggest criminal gang in the city. His daughter, Marie Lorraine, is an accomplished confidence woman. He sets her to ensnare Josef Bambach, Faulkner's son.
It's the third feature of the McDonough sisters, released at the time in silent and sound versions. I looked at the recent restoration of the silent version, and while it is a very good effort - I enjoyed the nice con game played early on - it looked to me as if it was the sound version, presented without sound - except for a charming live piano accompaniment. Unfortunately, this presentation wound up being very slow, with people talking, talking, talking, and then titles appeared. Once I realized this and compensated for it, it ran better, but the essential problem with the presentation remained.
There is also one of those Astonishing Revelations in the last ten minutes, entirely unprefigured, which resulted in a happy ending. It's one of the problems with commercial films of the era. I have recently seen the 2019 version of LITTLE WOMEN; in it, the publisher tells Jo Marsh that he female characters must wind up either married dead; the public will accept nothing else.
Despite these restrictions on story, I found it a well-produced and shot effort, with nice character details, acting, and set design - the last provided by Phyllis McDonagh. The niece of the sisters, who introduced the movie at New York's Museum of Modern Art this afternoon, explained that much of it was shot in the family home, and that some of the furniture is still in the family's possession.
Twenty years go by and he is the wealthy head of the biggest criminal gang in the city. His daughter, Marie Lorraine, is an accomplished confidence woman. He sets her to ensnare Josef Bambach, Faulkner's son.
It's the third feature of the McDonough sisters, released at the time in silent and sound versions. I looked at the recent restoration of the silent version, and while it is a very good effort - I enjoyed the nice con game played early on - it looked to me as if it was the sound version, presented without sound - except for a charming live piano accompaniment. Unfortunately, this presentation wound up being very slow, with people talking, talking, talking, and then titles appeared. Once I realized this and compensated for it, it ran better, but the essential problem with the presentation remained.
There is also one of those Astonishing Revelations in the last ten minutes, entirely unprefigured, which resulted in a happy ending. It's one of the problems with commercial films of the era. I have recently seen the 2019 version of LITTLE WOMEN; in it, the publisher tells Jo Marsh that he female characters must wind up either married dead; the public will accept nothing else.
Despite these restrictions on story, I found it a well-produced and shot effort, with nice character details, acting, and set design - the last provided by Phyllis McDonagh. The niece of the sisters, who introduced the movie at New York's Museum of Modern Art this afternoon, explained that much of it was shot in the family home, and that some of the furniture is still in the family's possession.