Clarine Seymour Movies
One of the least remembered of the many actresses molded by the great master himself, D.W. Griffith, Clarine Seymour sadly did not live to witness the release of her first starring film, The Idol Dancer (1920). A beautiful brunette with large, luminous eyes, Seymour had appeared in a couple of Thanhouser productions in New York, supported serial queens Pearl White and Mollie King, and played second fiddle to circus performer turned slapstick comic Toto prior to signing with Griffith in 1918. Unfortunately, with the exception of True Heart Susie (1919), in which she was fine as the "other woman," none of her films were among the director's best. In fact, Scarlet Days, an overly melodramatic Western, is by many thought to be his very worst. But Seymour always emerged unscathed and usually with glowing reviews, better even than those awarded Carol Dempster, the nominal star of Scarlet Days and Griffith's main protegée at the time. The Idol Dancer, set on a tropical island and with Seymour playing an Eurasian dancing girl tempting both Creighton Hale and Richard Barthelmess, was no masterpiece, either, but Seymour earned star billing and the trade paper Exhibitors' Herald found her "more fascinating than ever." This and most other reviews, sadly, were posted posthumously. Officially, Seymour's tragic death was blamed on an intestinal malaise, but, according to Lillian Gish, who certainly was in a position to know, the young actress succumbed from exposure suffered during the near arctic location filming of Way Down East (1920), a fate eerily similar to what befell her character in True Heart Susie. Seymour was summarily replaced by dancer Mary Hay but, again according to Gish, may still be spotted in a couple of long shots. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide- 1920
Even though this is a lesser D.W. Griffith film, the casting is intriguing. Richard Barthelmess, who usually played a "good boy," portrays Dan McGuire, a lazy beachcomber who likes his gin. The girl is Clarine Seymour, whose spirit was far earthier than Lillian Gish's, and whose talent was far more spontaneous than Carol Demptser, the star of most of Griffith's later films. Unfortunately, Seymour died later in the year (1920) at the age of 21, so her talent was never fully realized. The real problem with this film was its South Seas setting, which was very foreign territory for Griffith, since his brand of sentiment just didn't mix with primitive backgrounds. On this particular South Seas island lives Mary (Seymour) a dancing girl who has a French father and Javanese mother. Two men come along who vie for her heart: McGuire, the drunken bum, and Walter Kincaid (Creighton Hale), the invalid nephew of an island missionary (George MacQuarrie) who has come to the tropics for his health. Natives from a nearby island attack, and the nephew is heroically and conveniently killed. Mary confesses that she loves McGuire, who promises to reform. She, in turn, agrees to become civilized and which brings them together for the fade out. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
This D.W. Griffith picture has the distinction of being, arguably, the worst film that the director ever made. For starters, it's a western -- not one of Griffith's best subjects. And most of the characters are two-dimensional clichés. Rosy Nell (Eugenie Besserer) is a dance-hall woman of the Old West. She has been paying for the education of her daughter (Carol Dempster) without telling the girl how she's been earning the money. When the daughter comes West for a surprise visit, she's met at the station by chivalrous bandit Alvarez (Richard Barthelmess) and a pair of miners. Meanwhile, Nell has gotten into a fight with another woman from the dance hall, Spasm Sal (Rhea Haines). Sal has a heart attack in the middle of the fight, and dies. Nell is accused of murdering her, but is saved from being lynched by Alvarez. King Bagley (Walter Long, in a typically villainous role), the dance hall's proprietor, leads an attack on Nell's cabin, but Alvarez uses himself and his notoriety as a distraction by turning himself in. He escapes from imprisonment, however, with the help of his fiery mistress Chiquita (Clarine Seymour), while Nell's daughter winds up with prospector John Randolph (Ralph Graves). Poor as it was, this was one of Dempster's few films for Griffith in which she was properly cast. On the other hand, Richard Barthelmess couldn't have been a poorer choice for Alvarez. Ironically, Dorothy Gish had recommended an actor to Griffith who probably would have been perfect: Rudolph Valentino. But Griffith mistakenly believed that foreign types were not appealing to women(!). Some critics of the day suspected that Griffith wasn't the only director on this film. They were right -- his assistant Elmer Clifton was practically co-director. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
Out of all of Griffith's films about the Great War, this one impressed the least. Perhaps Carol Dempster should share part of the blame for this -- it was her first starring vehicle and her hyperactive performance was soundly upstaged by her charismatic co-star Clarine Seymour. In brief, the plot concerns two brothers, Ralph (Richard Barthelmess) and James Grey (Robert Harron), and the girls who love them (Dempster and Seymour, respectively). Ralph is the good boy who hurries to enlist and winds up in France, where he meets up with Dempster. James, meanwhile, is a lazy reprobate who stays at home and is reformed by cabaret girl Seymour. Griffith's directing style, at this point in his career, was already starting to fall behind the times. Nevertheless, Harron's performance, along with Seymour's, shines. Tragically, both young actors would die in 1920. ~ Janiss Garza, All Movie Guide
- 1919
True Heart Susie is one of D.W. Griffith's "pastoral" films, wherein plot takes second place to characterization and romance. Lillian Gish plays Susie May Trueheart, who so loves local boy William Jenkins (Robert Harron) that she secretly finances his education. Returning to his home town as a minister, Jenkins never catches on that Susie is crazy for him. While Our Heroine pines away, Jenkins marries The Wrong Woman, young temptress Betty Hopkins (Clarine Seymour). Betty begins indulging in affairs with other men, but Susie loyally keeps this information from the reverend Jenkins. Even when Betty dies of pneumonia, Susie refuses to reveal all she's done on Jenkins' behalf. Finally, Susie's Aunt (Kate Bruce) can stand no more: she tells Jenkins the whole story, whereupon he takes Susie in his arms and pledges eternal devotion. In the hands of a lesser director, True Heart Susie might have been impossibly maudlin (and unbelievable; after all, can anyone be as much of a blockhead as Reverend Jenkins seems to be?) As it stands, the film's dramatic and heart-tugging value has not diminished, not even after the passage of nearly eighty years. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lillian Gish, Loyola O'Connor, (more)
