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Linked by Fate
(1912) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by [?] Robert Goodman?
Cast: Richard Stanton [Edward, the minister], Mildred Bracken [Flora, the minister’s daughter], [?] ? [John, first mate of the ship]
G. Méliès production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Gaston Méliès. / Released Released 28 November 1912. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / Only 38 prints of the film were sold.
Drama.
Synopsis: [From Méliès promotional materials] Saved from a wreck, John, Flora and her father, a minster, are washed ashore on a barren island, where the father, dying from privation, requests John to marry Flora and himself ties the knot. On finding John’s diary, Flora has reason to believe him already married, and to free him makes it appear she has been drowned. John departs without her in the only boat, but Flora is saved by a passing steamer. Five years later they meet again and she learns that the woman in question is only his sister. It is a happy reunion blessed by fate. // [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? A minister and his daughter, Flora, John, mate of the ship, and a few sailors are the sole survivors of a disastrous wreck. The little rowboat in which they are saved washes them ashore on a barren island, where the sailors dig for themselves and the mate endeavors to look after Flora and her father. In their search for food along the shore the sailors find a box of whiskey, which they hail with gladness and are quick to consume. Drunk, they make an insulting attack on Flora, which John, their mate, is able to quell only by the use of his revolver. The mutineers make their escape in the only boat, leaving John, Flora and her father stranded. In vain do they signal passing steamers. The minister, near death from long privation, requests John to marry Flora and care for her. He performs the ceremony with his dying breath. Some days later the boat in which the sailors made their escape is again washed ashore, and John sets to work repairing it for his and his wife’s departure. Meanwhile Flora finds his diary, in which she discovers a passage addressed to “Dearest Evelyn,” and fearing that John is already married, she decides to free him. Throwing her hat and coat into the water, she hides in the interior of the island. John believes her drowned and departs without her. When near death Flora is rescued by a passing steamer, which lands her in San Pedro, where she secures a position as a milliner. Five years elapse. John is back home in San Pedro with his sister, Evelyn. He realizes more and more that he loved Flora, and when, through the ordering of a hat by Evelyn, he comes face to face with Flora, great is his joy. But Flora shrinks from him, believing Evelyn to be his wife. John then explains to Flora and the two are united a second time.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 14 December 1912, page ?]? There is some superb scenery in this drama of the seashore, great towering cliffs. The story is of a shipwrecked party being thrown on an island, a minister and his daughter and a young man being deserted by the others, who take the only boat and depart. The minister, dying, marries the two. The daughter, finding a miniature of a woman on her husband’s neck, jumps to the conclusion that the man has married her through regard for the conventionalities. The husband has rigged up a boat. The wife throws into the water her coat and hat. The husband, finding them, believes the girl has committed suicide, and rows away. The wife, afterward, rescued by a passing craft, is put ashore. Later she meets her husband and learns that the picture is of His sister. There is a good situation in the closing scene, it is competently handled.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 28 July 2024.
References: Thompson-Star pp. 70, 232 : ClasIm-226 p. 55 : Website-IMDb.
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