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The Mysterious Mrs. M.
Also known as [The Mysterious Mrs. Musslewhite]
(1917) United States of America
B&W : Five reels
Directed by Lois Weber
Cast: Harrison Ford [Raymond Van Seer], Mary MacLaren [Phyllis Woodman], Evelyn Selbie [Mrs. Musselwhite], Willis Marks [Green], Frank Brownlee [Doctor Woodman], Bertram Grassby [a clubman], Charles Mailes (Charles Hill Mailes) [a clubman]
Bluebird Photoplays, Incorporated, production; distributed by Bluebird Photoplays, Incorporated, through The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Lois Weber, from a short story by Thomas Edgelow. Cinematography by Al Siegler. / © 11 January 1917 by Bluebird Photoplays, Incorporated [LP9965]. Premiered 22 January 1917 at the Rialto Theatre in New York, New York. Released 5 February 1917. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / J. Warren Kerrigan was originally cast for the leading role but was replaced by Ford after shooting had begun.
Drama: Mystery.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Raymond Van Seer, wealthy, has become morose and dissatisfied with life. His mental mood has worried his friends and when his true condition of mind is disclosed by the discovery that he is reading a book entitled “Famous Suicides,” action becomes necessary. One of Van Seer’s club friends has recently visited a fortune teller, known as “The Mysterious Mrs. M.,” and relates his experiences to Van Seer. As a result of the combined urgings of his friends, Van Seer visits the sorceress. When she tells Van Seer that on a given date be will meet with a painful accident while out of doors, Van Seer hopes to thwart whatever truth there may be in her prognostication by remaining indoors, at his club, all day. Despite the invitations of his friends to venture forth, Van Seer sticks within his room until late in the afternoon, fire is discovered in the clubhouse and, with the other occupants, Van Seer rushes forth. Just as he is crossing the threshold, he trips, falls headlong to the sidewalk and breaks his wrist. He will have none of the attentions offered by the club physician, but takes his machine and rides to his country seat, where he submits his broken wrist to the treatment of Dr. Woodman, the family physician. Prompted by a desire to further test the abilities of the seeress, Van Seer again visits “The Mysterious Mrs. M.” She informs him that on a certain date, still three months away, he is to die suddenly. As a token of his disbelief Van Seer gives her an order on his executor to pay her an immense sum of money if he shall die in accord with Mrs. Musselwhite’s prophecy. The fortune teller hands him back the order, stating that his money will do her no good as she is herself going to die within a week. Van Seer bribes the fortune teller’s butler to keep him advised of Mrs. Musselwhite’s health. On the day the woman has set for her death, the butler calls Van Seer to the phone and informs him that Mrs. Musselwhite has died. Being now thoroughly convinced of the woman’s ability Van Seer contemplates the likelihood of his own death as specified, but now he wants to live. Dr. Woodman’s daughter, Phyllis, has come home from college. Van Seer has fallen in love with her, but believing that his day of death is fixed by fate he refrains from advancing his own cause while all the time Phyllis is in love with him. So matters continue until Van Seer’s last day on earth. He spends the hours alone, locked in his library, watching the hands of the clock approach the hour of midnight. When at last the hour of midnight arrives and passes with Van Seer still alive he is suddenly aroused to the realities of life by having his club friends burst in upon him with a letter from “The Mysterious Mrs. M.” She has, all along, acted in the employ of Van Seer’s club friends and has prognosticated and acted along previously decided lines. Rejoicing in his good health, good fortune and the love of Phyllis, there is the happy ending of Van Seer’s romance of life and death.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 3 February 1917, page ?] Like the other screenplays with which the name of Lois Weber has been connected, the five-reel Bluebird, “The Mysterious Mrs. M.,” involves in its making a commendable display of brains. Adapted by the director from a magazine story by Thomas Edgelow, the photoplay depends largely upon the enigmatic character of the plot. This is sufficiently baffling to defy solution by the average spectator in advance of the proper moment, and is an interesting theme in itself. A wealthy young fellow, who has become morbid from much wrong living, is prevailed upon by his club friends to visit a mysterious fortune teller. The seeress foretells of an accident to the young man, which takes place, according to schedule. When he returns for further evidence of her ability, she obliges him by stating the exact day and hour when he will cease to live. Thoroughly convinced of the woman's occult powers, and now, deeply in love with a charming young girl. The poor chap is in a bad way, as he awaits the moment of his taking off. The solution of the difficulty is in the nature of a “surprise finish,” and comes at the very end. Such a story has the advantage of a somewhat different plot, but labors under the handicap of having but one course of action. To sustain the interest at undiminished tension through five reels, under this condition, is no easy matter. Director Weber has nearly accomplished the feat. There is a slight slacking up at a few points, but the movement generally carries the story forward at a rate of speed that rivets the attention. The manner in which “The Mysterious Mrs. M.” has been prepared for screening, by Lois Weber, is a fine achievement. The care, good taste and artistic perception shown all through the five reels was to be expected from so capable a director. The selection of the cast is another example of her ripe judgment. Harrison Ford as Raymond Van Seer, the young millionaire, gives a flawless performance of the part. He looks and acts the type of man demanded by the author with notable ease and convincing skill. Mary MacLaren makes a winsome figure of young Von Seer’s sweetheart, and Evelyn Selbie, Willis Marks, Frank Brownlee, Bertram Grassby, and Charles Mailies assist in the success of the drama.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost : Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive (Dawson City collection) [35mm nitrate positive (incomplete, missing reels 3-5), 35mm acetate duplicate positive (incomplete, missing reels 3-5)].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Friendship - Occult : Fortune tellers - Supernatural
Listing updated: 4 June 2024.
References: Hirschhorn-Universal p. 27 : Website-AFI; Website-ASFFDb; Website-IMDb.
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