Allen G. Siegler Movies

Future Judge Hardy Lewis Stone plays a restless middle-aged man in this drama. After 20 years of marriage, Mary Emerson (Cleo Madison) treats her husband, John (Stone), more like a son than a spouse, so it's no wonder that a fresh young thing by the name of Gloria Sanderson (Ruth Clifford) catches his eye. Rejuvenated by Gloria's attention, Emerson takes her on dates to the races and attends the most fashionable cabarets. Somehow he manages to evade her inquiries into his marital status. Emerson decides that he is in love with Gloria, so he writes Mary a letter saying that he will not be returning to her. He only realizes his foolishness when he discovers Gloria in the arms of another man -- her fiancé. In a panic he tries to retrieve the letter he wrote, but discovers it is already on its way. In a mad dash, he drives his car in front of the train, which stops after smashing the car to bits. Emerson uses this opportunity to get on the train. He arrives home ahead of the letter, in time for the wedding of his daughter, Ruth (Edith Roberts). Mary, however, manages to get her hands on the letter, but instead of being upset over it, she realizes that her behavior is, in good part, to blame. A reconciliation between husband and wife follows. ~ Janiss Garza, Rovi

Whenever she was directed by her husband Robert Z. Leonard, Mae Murray ceased behaving like a Movie Star and started acting like a human being. Such was the case in Danger! Go Slow!, in which Murray was cast as a tough, streetwise sneak thief. When the cops close in, she hops a freight to a small rural town, where to protect herself from molestation she disguises herself as a boy. Adopted by a kindly old woman (Lydia Knott), Murray decides to keep up her masquerade, though slowly but surely she divests herself of her criminal tendencies and learns to enjoy being honest. The story ends happily as the heroine, at last revealing her true gender, marries the old woman's son (Jack Mulhall), whom she has saved from financial ruin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Where Are My Children was one of twelve 1916 films co-directed by the husband-and-wife team of Phillips Smalley and Lois Weber. Another of the team's "message" pictures, this one tackled the touchy subject of Birth Control. Set in an unnamed Big City, the story focuses on a district attorney, who loves children, and his socialite wife, who does not. Upon graduating from college, the wife's brother moves in with the couple. Smitten by the brother, the couple's maidservant enters into an affair with the boy, the result being an unwanted pregnancy. Offering to help out, the wife arranges for an illegal abortion. Unfortunately, something goes wrong, and the maid dies. The D.A. husband arrests the doctor and sentences him to 15 years in prison -- then makes the startling discovery that among the doctor's clients was his own wife. Investigating further, the D.A. learns that he has never become a father because of his wife's multiple abortions, and that all of his wife's friends have been similarly "serviced" by the doctor. The film ends with a haunting double-exposure sequence, as the repentant wife and her grieving friends conjure up visions of the babies whose lives they have snuffed out because of their own selfishness. Though Where Are My Children may seem naively reactionary in these more enlightened times, the film was undeniably strong and powerful stuff in its day. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi