An Innocent Magdalene (1916) Lillian Gish "AN INNOCENT MAGDALENE" (Fine Arts-Triangle - Five Reels) REVIEWED BY OSCAR COOPER A ROMANCE of heart interest, this gives Lillian Gish opportunity to play one of her typically appealing parts as a Southern girl of to-day whose father, an unreconstructed Kentuckian, has brought her up in an atmosphere of aristocratic poverty. The girl meets a millionaire gambler, falls in love with him, and marries him after they have fled from the old Colonel's wrath to the city. The gambler, for the sake of the girl, gives up his evil ways, and devotes himself to her. He defines a blackmailing detective, and as a result is sent to prison. Shortly thereafter, another woman appears on the scene, and asserts she is the gambler's wife. The girl is persuaded of this, and goes back to her old home, but her father drivers her out, and she takes refuge in a negro cabin with her old Mammy. When her child is born, she believes it illegitimate, and herself a Magdalene. Her life is made miserable by the villagers, and she determines to kill herself by leaping off a cliff, but the husband, after his prison term is over, finds her and they are reunited, after the spectator learns that the other woman was merely an old flame of the gambler's. We have told the story in some detail to show its import, as the title might mislead. It is a story which perhaps will not stand strict analysis, but the handling of it is along the intelligent lines characteristic of the Fine Arts forces. Miss Gish registers in excellent fashion the varying shades of emotion she is called upon to depict. Sam De Grasse, as the gambler, is unusually pleasing, and Spottiswoode Aitken gives one of his fine character renditions. Jennie Lee is exceptionally good as the negro mammy, and Mary Alden is thoroughly acceptable as the other woman. Seymour Hastings and William De Vaull are also in the cast. We think this picture will go very well, not only because of the work of Miss Gish and her fellow players, but also because the Southern atmosphere is excellent, and there are many human touches. Alan Dwan, always a careful and skilled director, worked from a script y Roy Summerville, which in turn was based on a story by Granville Warwick. -- Motion Picture News, June 17, 1916, p3770 (Granville Warwick was a pen name for D. W. Griffith.) An Innocent Magdalene - (Five Reels) - TRIANGLE-INCE - JUNE 16 - A delightful story laid in the south which has been excellently produced by Allan Dwan. The story is by Granville Warwick and the scenario by Roy Somerville. Lillian Gish, Sam de Grasse and Spottiswoode Aitken are in the cast. Reviewed elsewhere in this issue. -- Motography, June 17, 1916, p 1411 Allan Dwan, the Fine Arts director, believes in having music played on the side lines while he is directing a scene. He says that music aids the player to assume the artificial dramatic spirit and also makes an actor's work more uniform. The Fine Arts producer is now directing a picture with Lillian Gish. This is the first time that she has ever been directed by Allan Dwan. The story is laid in Kentucky and Miss Gish plays the part of an unsophisticated Southern girl. The part is intensely dramatic and Director Dwan feels that Miss Gish will be seen to exceptional advantage in this Triangle play. In the cast appears also Sam DeGrasse, playing the role of her sweetheart; Spottiswood Aitken as her father, and William De Voull and Jennie Lee as two faithful colored servants. --Moving Picture World, May 13, 1916, p 1152 with Lillian Gish and Spottiswoode Aitken. Directed by Allan Dwan. Triangle. More Information on this film...                                      This work (An Innocent Magdalene (1916), by Triangle), identified by Bruce Calvert, is free of known copyright restrictions. Books None. Last Modified June 30, 2016