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To Save Her Soul
(1909) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 986 feet
Directed by D.W. Griffith
Cast: Arthur Johnson [Paul Redmond], Mary Pickford [Agnes Halley], W. Chrystie Miller [the church organist], George O. Nicholls (George Nichols) [the manager], Kate Bruce [the housekeeper], Caroline Harris [?] [Agnes’ mother]?, [?] Charles Craig? [a bumpkin], [?] Frank Evans? [the stage manager], Jack Pickford [a stagehand], [?] Robert Harron? [a stagehand; and an usher], Mack Sennett [backstage at the debut], James Kirkwood [backstage at the debut; and a party guest], Owen Moore [a party guest], [?] Ruth Hart? [a party guest], [?] Blanche Sweet? [backstage at the debut; and a party guest], [?] Dorothy West? [a party guest], Linda Arvidson? [an audience member], [?] Henry Lehrman? [an audience member], [?] Jeanie Macpherson? [an audience member], [?] Gertrude Robinson? [an audience member], [?] Paul Scardon? [an audience member], [?] William Beaudine?, [?] Lottie Pickford?, [?] Billy Quirk?
Biograph Company production; distributed by Biograph Company. / Cinematography by G.W. Bitzer and Arthur Marvin. / © 1909 by Biograph Company. Released 27 December 1909. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 31 December 1909, page ?] How fervent should be our prayer “Lead us not into temptation,” for temptation is the germ which inoculates us with the fatal disease of sin . . . In just this position was placed Agnes Holley, the pretty little choir singer of the village church. Paul Redmond is the young curate of the church and has taken quite a fancy to the little singer, not fully realizing that he deeply loved her until one day while Agnes was practicing the music on the organ her beautiful voice attracted the attention of a party in an automobile that has become disabled on the road outside the church. The occupant of the auto is none other than a great vaudeville manager, who, struck with this fresh young voice, offers the little singer an opportunity to shine at his music hall. It is now that Paul realizes how much he loves the girl, and appreciating the danger, that may beset her, tries to persuade her not to accept the offer. Despite his pleading she goes and is soon introduced into a new and dazzling circle. Arduous study and rehearsals fit her for her debut, and her first night is a triumph. She is destined to become the toast of Bohemia. Paul reads in the newspapers of her success and decides to go to see her. He views her performance with elation until he hears the flippant remarks of the men seated around him. He feels that her fate will be that of the oft told story, and he resolves to save her. Hastening to the stage, he arrives just after she has left with one of the reckless swells on their way to a banquet given in her honor. Upon arriving at the house, he forces his way into the banquet hall, and the sight that greets him freezes his blood. Wine is flowing like water, and little Agnes, with a glass of champagne in her hand is standing upon a chair about to respond to a toast to herself. Paul’s abrupt entrance is met with derision, but Agnes, stunned at his appearance, consents to an interview in the anteroom. Here she, now inflamed by the wine, derides and mocks him, and refuses to go away from this awful place with him, when he espies a revolver, and crazed by jealous love, would have killed her that her soul might remain pure. This move is a shock to Agnes, and it tends to awaken in her the love for Paul that has laid dormant all the while. She now appreciates the escape she has made, and we next find them kneeling side by side at the altar of the little village church giving thanks to God for her deliverance and His blessings.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 8 January 1910, page ?] A picture which might easily be made a sermon without much change. It purports to give the experience of a beautiful girl in the country who is offered an attractive opportunity by a noted vaudeville manager. Her lover, the curate, follows her after learning of her success and arrives in time to find her at a banquet tendered by some young swells in her honor. The dramatic scene when he draws his revolver to shoot her to save her soul is startling in its vividness and causes a chill to strike one. But it likewise arouses her from her false dreams and they are next seen kneeling at the little altar of the church back home. This is a picture of the possibilities of the fast life of a city which may, or may not be always true. Sometimes the allusions to it are overblown, though perhaps that is no fault, since it might often be the means of preventing some moths from being attracted by the flame. The dramatic qualities of this film will depend upon the point of view of the one who sees it. If one believes the story, or believes that it represents real possibilities, then it will appeal with a strong dramatic impression; but if one does not believe those stories, then it will not appeal. But at least it will always be interesting and the situations will attract by the power with which they are developed. The acting and photography are both up to the Biograph standard, indicating that the play has had careful attention in its preparation.
Survival status: Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive, 16mm reduction positives]; and in the Museum of Modern Art film archive.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Religion
Listing updated: 4 April 2024.
References: Barry-Griffith p. 42; Eyman-Pickford p. 324; Sloan-Loud pp. 78, 81, 82, 152; Spehr-American p. 4 : MovPicWorld-19100108 p. 9 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb; Website-NFPF.
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