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Mother
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 975 feet
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Frank H. Crane (Frank Hall Crane) [Will Allen], [?] Harry Benham?, [?] Maude Fealy?
Thanhouser Company production; distributed by Motion Picture Distributing & Sales Company. / Released 6 September 1910. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 10 September 1910, page ?] The play deals with Will Allen, a country lad, who is unhappy at home, owing to the fact that he is a studious little chap, and prefers his books to farmwork, which incurs the displeasure and enmity of his stepfather, a rough and surly farmer, to whom book learning does not appeal. Will runs away from home, and although his mother keeps a light in the window, hoping to guide her boy home, he never returns. Twenty years later, when the boy has made a place for himself in the world as a successful lawyer, he goes back to the farm, only to find that his little mother, who has been left a widow, has gone away, whither no one knows. The mother, in the meantime, being left alone in the world, goes to the city and there supports herself by dressmaking. While shopping in a department store she is unjustly accused of shoplifting. The only person who believes in her innocence is a salesgirl, who is discharged for her presumption in daring to correct her superiors. The girl, in her efforts to help the friendless old lady, enlists the aid of Will, whom she knows to be a lawyer of great ability. Will is about to refuse the case, as the drygoods company is a client of his, when the girl describes the lonely old lady, and begs him for the sake of his mother to defend her. Will consents. Will’s clear statement of the case to the judge, together with May’s testimony, frees the mother. When her counsel approaches to offer his congratulations, mutual recognition results.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 17 September 1910, page 633] A little domestic tragedy which shows how boys are sometimes driven from home and what results from it. First, the unfortunate lad enlists one’s sympathies at the beginning of the picture. The lonely mother, waiting for her son, holds them, and eventually the old woman unjustly accused of shoplifting works still stronger upon one’s sympathies. Then comes the recognition and reunion after the long years of separation. It is a picture that goes direct to the heart and makes one put himself in the place of all the characters. Perhaps that magic word, mother, is the key to the whole situation.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 29 November 2022.
References: Pohle-Holmes p. ? : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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