F.A. Turner Movies

A group of crooks in New York City's Chinatown hear about an old hermit (Joseph J. Dowling) in a small upstate village who's performing miraculous cures. When they find out that the man is blind and deaf, they decide to pay him a visit. The leader, Tom Burke (Thomas Meighan), has his girlfriend Rose (Betty Compson), pose as the hermit's long-lost grand niece. Burke, Rose and the other crooks, the Frog (Lon Chaney) and the Dope, a morphine addict (J. M. Dumont), all become part of the hermit's household. The Frog fakes being a cripple, and the hoodlums figure that when he pretends to be cured, people will pay loads of money -- to the gang -- for the hermit's services. But they find out that the hermit's powers are real. This begins a change in the crooks -- the Dope quits drugs, the Frog is adopted by a gray-haired country lady, and when Rose is courted by a millionaire, she prefers to stay with Burke, who is finally won over by the hermit's faith. This film was based on a play by George M. Cohan, which was adapted from a book by Frank Packard. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

With this lineup -- the star was Dorothy Gish, the director was George Siegmann, who got his training under D.W. Griffith, and the screenwriter was another Griffith protégé, Tod Browning -- one would assume this picture might have something special to offer. But, in spite of Gish's lighthearted charm, it fell flat, primarily because the story was so musty. In fact, it can pretty much be guessed by its title -- there's the horse race (actually there are two), the mortgage held in balance by Atta Boy's ability to win, causing the damsel much distress, etc., etc. The film's one bright moment -and perhaps this is where the Griffith influence comes in to play -- is when the camera, instead of shooting the horse race from a static position, keeps pace with the running horses as Atta Boy comes up from behind. In the mid-1910s, something as simple as a moving camera added spice to a motion picture. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

Old Ira Dayton (F.A. Turner) is a hypochondriac, so when Doc Arnold (Wilfred Lucas) says there is nothing wrong with him, he goes to a quack, Dr. Horatio Bell (Pomeroy Cannon), who proceeds to bilk him out of as much money as possible. The honest Doc Arnold is in love with Dayton's daughter, Jesse (Constance Talmadge), but Dayton disapproves of the match. Dr. Bell gets a ten thousand dollar check from Dayton, but Jesse goes to get it back. They struggle and the quack falls to the ground, mysteriously shot. Jesse is accused of murder, but Doc Arnold snoops around and discovers the shot was fired by a half-wit boy who became jealous when he saw Dr. Bell making love to the maid. After this, old man Dayton comes to his senses. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide

While busy with The Birth of a Nation, director D.W. Griffith began a small-scale contemporary drama called The Mother and the Law. The film was designed as an indictment against professional do-gooders who take it upon themselves to "reform" the poor. One victim of this misguided treatment is played by Mae Marsh, whose baby is claimed by the moral uplifters when her husband (Bobby Harron) proves unable to provide for his family. The film's dramatic highpoints include a violent capital vs. labor clash, and a climactic race for life as the husband is slated for execution for a crime he did not commit. If this all sounds familiar, it is because an abbreviated version of The Mother and the Law was incorporated into Griffith's four-part spectacular Intolerance; it was later released as a separate feature, with newly shot scenes added. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide