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Sowers and Reapers
(1917) United States of America
B&W : Five reels
Directed by George D. Baker
Cast: Emmy Wehlen [Annie Leigh], George Christie [Earle Courtney], Frank Currier [Major James Courtney], Peggy Parr [Sadie Jones], Harry Davenport [Henry Ainsworth], Claire McCormack [Ella Burt], Emmanuel Turner (Emanuel A. Turner) [Paul Roubais], Walter Horton [Len Peters], Kate Blancke [Mrs. Leigh], David Thompson [William Jenkins], Grace Saums (Grace Saum) [Ethel Ainsworth]
Rolfe Photoplays, Incorporated, production; distributed by Metro Pictures Corporation [A Metro Wonderplay]. / Scenario by George D. Baker. Assistant director, Charles J. Hundt (Charles J. Hunt). Cinematography by Joseph Shelderfer. Presented by B.A. Rolfe.
/ © 8 May 1917 by Metro Pictures Corporation [LP10737]. Released 7 May 1917. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 26 May 1917, page ?] Screen fiction in the purest sense of the word is seen in “Sowers and Reapers,” a five-reel melodrama produced by Rolfe Photoplays, Inc. and released by Metro on May 7. The best thing in the picture is Emmy Wehlen, the featured player, whose beauty and ability count for more than any other feature. The story, which was written by George D. Baker, who also directed, is of the sort that will bring joy to the hearts of those who revel in the writings of Laura Jean Libby, and of the sort that is apt to bring laughs to the lips of those who demand at least one ounce of plausibility to every pound of story. Considered technically the story is one of convenience. It is obvious at almost all times. Impossibilities are many, especially so where one is asked to believe that, although a girl’s body has been charred beyond recognition in a factory fire, the dress she wore and a letter she carried are left almost intact. But if one can put oneself in a frame of mind in which a story will be welcome for no other reason than that it is a story, a certain amount of entertainment will be gotten out of “Sowers and Reapers.” The plot starts out with that well-known trio — wealthy father and son and poor factory girl. The youth marries the girl, but his father, by trickery, separates them. Every proof of the marriage is destroyed. A child is born. The youth is led to believe that the girl perishes in a fire. He marries the girl of his father’s choice. From poverty the first girl reaches dizzy heights of fame as a screen star. The youth and his father go broke. The girl buys up the mortgages on their property. The father and son see a motion picture written by the girl. It is the girl’s story of what she believes to have been her husband’s faithlessness. The picture finally brings the entire group together. Some very good super-imposure photography was done by Joseph Shelderfer in the scenes in which we see a picture within a picture.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 17 November 2023.
References: Website-AFI; Website-ASFFDb; Website-IMDb.
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