Miriam Cooper Movies
Dark Lady of the Silents was a well-chosen title for Miriam Cooper's 1972 autobiography; Ms. Cooper's chief attributes throughout her starring career were her dark, soulful eyes. Born in Baltimore, Ms. Cooper was educated at New York City's Cooper Union school. During her free time, Miriam occasionally visited the Biograph Film studios in the Bronx, eventually asking director D.W. Griffith for a job. After several weeks, Griffith found a small part for her in the 1912 one-reeler A Blot on the 'Scutcheon. Miriam went along when the Griffith unit moved to California in 1914. At the then-considerable salary of $65 a week, she played leading roles in Griffith's back-to-back epics The Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). Around this time she married future director Raoul Walsh, who'd played John Wilkes Booth in Birth; though they divorced in 1926, Miriam referred to herself as Miriam Cooper Walsh for the rest of her life. Having retired from films in 1924, Miriam lived on a 1000-acre Maryland farm for nearly three decades. Between 1953 and 1970, Miriam Cooper lived in a small farmhouse in Charlottesville, Virginia, that eventually had to be demolished to make way for a shopping center; the money she received for her property enabled Miriam to live inexpensively but comfortably in Charlottesville for the rest of her days. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1914
This tragedy is set in the Algerian desert and begins as a selfish French Foreign Legion officer abandons the native girl he impregnated. Now all she has left of him is the Legion of Honor medal, he gave her. She dies during childbirth and her son is raised by a gentle old Algerian. He too has a son, and the two are raised as brothers. They grow up and fall in love with the same young woman. Unfortunately, the adopted brother's father has since been appointed Governor of the colony. When he sees the woman, he too wants her and demands that she be brought to him. The angered brothers retaliate by starting a violent rebellion and it is during this struggle that father and son finally meet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1912
Released in 1912 amidst numerous 50th anniversary commemorations of the U.S. Civil War, The Confederate Ironclad is similar to Pearl Harbor and other "blockbuster" type historical films in that it emphasizes explosions and romance over accuracy and insight. Carefully designed to appease both Northern and Southern audiences, the film tells the story of two brave women, one a Southern sweetheart (Miriam Cooper) and the other a Northern spy (Anna Q. Nilsson), who struggle to outwit each other against the backdrop of runaway trains and powerful warships. One of many Civil War-themed films shot by Kalem at their Jacksonville, FL, facilities, it's easy to spot such location artifacts as Spanish moss hanging from trees along the battlefront. An interesting point to look for is the animation-assisted explosion that occurs during the train fight sequence. Even by 1912 standards it's not very good, detracting from the film's otherwise adequate sense of spectacle. The Confederate Ironclad is notable as one of the first films to have a musical accompaniment score composed specifically for use by local silent movie house pianists. (Local movie houses received copies of the sheet music along with the film.) ~ Richard Gilliam, All Movie Guide
