|
Silas Marner
(1913) United States of America
B&W : Two reels
Directed by Charles Brabin
Cast: (unknown)
Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated, production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Charles Brabin, from the novel Silas Marner by George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans). / Released 24 October 1913. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Historical.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Silas Marner awoke one morning at the age of twenty-five, and discovered that he had nothing left to live for. His good name, his friends and the woman he loved had been removed from his reach by one unexpected thunderbolt of fate. Called to watch at the bedside of a dying deacon, he had nodded and fallen asleep. While he slept, the man he had always called his friend, crept softly in, stole the church money left in the deacon’s charge and left Silas’ knife in an incriminating position. Silas’ bare word was insufficient to carry any weight against the mass of circumstantial evidence. His frenzied protestations were met with cold glances and open scorn. So, at last, Silas crept away from the friends of his youth and went to live alone in a dilapidated old stone house on the outskirts of a small village, supporting himself with his hand loom and boarding his money with a miser’s greed. Silas came home one afternoon and discovered that his money bags had been stolen. Returning from a fruitless search for the thief he found a little girl lying asleep on the hearth. Her coming changed the entire tenor of his life. From a morbid, self-centered miser, Silas was changed into a generous, free-hearted, kindly nature. Only one person in the village knew the true story of Effie’s origin. This person was Godfrey Cass, the squire. Effie was his child by a bitterly-repented early marriage. Her mother’s death allowed Godfrey to make the brilliant match he had set his heart on. He therefore said nothing and allowed Silas to think he had adopted a nameless waif. Years later Godfrey repented of his early silence. He offered to give Effie the home and money that rightfully belonged to her, but Effie, erect and glorious in her young womanhood, chose to stay with Silas and refused the tardy amends of her real father.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 8 November 1913, page ?] There are good situations in these two reels, and they are finely handled. There is a multiplicity of characters (sixteen are indicated in the published cast); this, of course, does not, as a general rule, make for interest. The closing scenes are strongly dramatic and with a touch of pathos, too. Many of Edison’s star players are included in the cast.
Survival status: Print exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Authors: George Eliot [Mary Ann Evans] (1819-1880)
Listing updated: 11 June 2024.
References: Tarbox-Lost pp. 150, 279 : Website-IMDb.
|
