Movie 11min

John Halifax, Gentleman (1910)

Not rated.

Facts
Director Theodore Marston
Country United States
Language English
Production
Distribution
Categories
Based on Novel Black and White Businessmen Drama Gentleman Integrity Lost Film Orphan Quaker Short Silent Film
Descriptions

John Halifax, an orphan, trudges to town to make his fortune. There he is befriended first by Ursula March, the daughter of the richest man in town, who gives him food, and later by Abel Fletcher, a rich Quaker. Fletcher's invalid son takes a great fancy to John, and through his influence John is employed in his father's mill. After five years of faithful work, John has risen to the position of foreman. He and Fletcher's son, Phineas, have become fast friends. Against the wishes of his father, Phineas persuades John to take him to a theater. The trip proves too much for the invalid, and John carries him home from the theater in a fainting condition. Fletcher is furious with John, and drives him from the house. About this time there is great discontent at the mill, among the workmen. Fletcher decides to close it down. After six weeks of starvation, the workmen and their families come in a crowd to the mill and demand that they be given the grain which is stored there. Rather than accede to their demands, Fletcher hurls the bags of grain into the river. This so infuriates the mob that they try to set fire to the mill and put an end to Fletcher. Unable to control the mob, John helps Fletcher, his son and Ursula, to escape. Finally he wins Fletcher's consent to a compromise with the men. Realizing that he owes his property and life to John, Fletcher asks his forgiveness for his former harsh treatment. John becomes Fletcher's adopted son and wins Ursula for his bride.

Source: The Moving Picture World, December 3, 1910


This well known story is rendered into a motion picture in a way that will please the most exacting. The tale itself is simple, representing a young man who rises by dint of hard work to the head of his employer's mills and falls in love with the owner's daughter. After vicissitudes the couple are permitted to marry. It is a common enough story, only this novel had the merit of being one of the first to present this type of tale. The picture proves that a good rendering of even an old story is attractive. The audience apparently delights in the character of John Halifax. He is quite as good on the curtain as he is in the book, and there he has always been a favorite. The different parts are played to perfection. The character of the daughter and the ill son are both faithfully reproduced and seem to live before the audience.

Source: The Moving Picture World, December 17, 1910

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Cast
Martin Faust - (as Martin J. Faust)
Frank Hall Crane - (as Frank H. Crane)
William Russell -
Crew
Theodore Marston - Writer
Dinah Maria Mulock Craik - Author (Novel)
Theodore Marston - Director