Motography (Jul-Dec 1913)

September 20, 1913 MOTOGRAPHY 203 Essanay Offers Interesting Dramas Next Features Are Announced TWO intensely interesting two-reel dramas form the next features on the Essanay program, the first being "Grist to the Mill," released on Friday, September 12, while the other is "The Right of Way," which is scheduled for September 19. In the first Irene Warfield, the new and exceedingly charming leading woman of the Essanay Company, will make her debut, playing opposite Richard C. Travers, while the second two-reeler features Francis X. Bushman, supported by Miss Beverly Bayne, Frank Dayton and William Bayley. "Grist to the Mill" is a highly emotional drama, the story being woven around the tremendous sacrifice made by a woman for the man she loves, and "The Right of Way" will long be remembered on account of the sensational scene in the second reel in which an automobile, driven at high speed, plunges over a cliff and falls into a ravine some fifteen hundred feet below. This is one of the most startling catastrophies ever shown on the screen and is sure to enthuse any audience. In "Grist to the Mill" Will Ward and his wife, Marion, have lived together in true happiness and contentment for several years. The man, whose only weak spot in an otherwise strong character is his credulity and an inclination to place too much trust in his fellow-men, possesses a sense of honor to a high degree, and his every ambition and thought in life is centered in his wife. Marion is an ideal woman, and her whole life is wrapped Stupid with wine, he confesses al up in her love for her husband. Her beauty and nobleness of character makes her loved by all who know her. On his way home from work one evening, Ward, as he nears his home, comes upon a man whose automobile has broken down and is impatiently waiting while his chauffeur tries to repair the damage. Ward recognizes in Hammond an old friend, and invites him into his house until the mechanician can get the machine in running order. Hammond accepts the invitation. He is presented to Marion by her husband and immediately The telephone aids them in securing proof. becomes fascinated by her charm of face and manner. Before he leaves the house he has formed a plan to get rid of the husband and win the wife. He is a man of great influence in the political world, and offers to get Ward a position that will enable him to live in ease. The husband and wife are pleased and grateful. Some time later, while Ward is busy in his new position, Hammond brings him a paper to sign, and without reading it the man affixes his signature. Later, Hammond has Ward arrested and sent to jail on the strength of the document. Marion is grieved over her husband's imprisonment, and a suspision of Hammond's motive dawns on her. She resolves to leave nothing undone to free her husband and punish Hammond, so she prepares to sacrifice herself for a time in order to gain her desire. Her husband's conviction grants her a divorce, and immediately after obtaining it she becomes engaged to Hammond. She loathes the man, but for her husband's sake simulates love for him. Ward learns that his wife has obtained a divorce and is engaged to Hammond, and the knowledge almost drives him distracted. After a dinner given to friends by Hammond in celebration of his engagement to Marion, the girl, knowing that he is stupid with too much wine, and off his guard, manages to draw the whole story from him ; how he duped her husband and had him sent to -jail. With the help of an expert telephone man, Marion had previously arranged things so that every word Hammond said was transmitted over the wire and recorded by an operator at headquarters. She cleverly gets possession of the paper which proved her husband's undoing. Marion's hatred of Hammond, and her cunning have their effect, and her revenge is complete when the man is arrested at her instigation. Ward is released and his wife's actions are satisfactorily explained to him. Husband and wife are overjoyed at their reunion.