The Escape (1914 film)
Encyclopedia
The Escape is a 1914 silent
drama film
directed by D. W. Griffith
and starring Donald Crisp
. It is now considered to be a lost film
.
ritual.
Larry Joyce contracts a case of syphilis
, and seeks out treatment from Doctor Von Eiden (Moore), who also takes an keen interest in Larry's sister May (Sweet). Von Eiden encourages May to make a break with her family, and she succeeds. However she is unable to find employment and enters into a relationship with a wealthy senator (Lewis) as a kept woman. While May will not marry the Senator, her sister Jennie (Marsh) does marry a man named "Bull" McGee (Crisp), an abusive lout just like her father.
Their infant child is killed when McGee trips over its cradle in a drunken stupor, and Jennie becomes delusional, endlessly rocking the cradle with a doll inside. McGee is repulsed by her condition and puts Jennie away quietly through selling her into prostitution. May manages to wrest Jennie away from this peril, but Jennie expires soon after. Von Eiden, however, has managed to restore Larry's original sensitivity through a surgical procedure; May has broken off the relationship with the Senator and agrees to marry Von Eiden.
, a prolific playwright best known for his properties Alias Jimmy Valentine
(1910) and Salomy Jane (1907). Griffith's film version was begun first, finished second, but released third among the cycle of five films he made at Reliance-Majestic Studios
between his ouster at Biograph
and the advent of The Birth of a Nation
(1915). Filming of The Escape began in New York, but was completed in California, partly due to an illness in the cast. There was a long delay in getting it out; although Mutual Film
finally released it on June 1, 1914, response to The Escape was of a mixed character and the film was dumped on the States' Rights market by the end of the year.
Lillian Gish
recalled The Escape as one of the finest films Griffith ever made, whereas Griffith himself regarded its failure as a momentary distraction during the planning stages of The Birth of a Nation. Iris Barry first reported The Escape as a lost film in 1940 and despite an international search for Griffith's film output lasting the decades since, The Escape remains one among a small handful of Griffith features that have never been located.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by D. W. Griffith
D. W. Griffith
David Llewelyn Wark Griffith was a premier pioneering American film director. He is best known as the director of the controversial and groundbreaking 1915 film The Birth of a Nation and the subsequent film Intolerance .Griffith's film The Birth of a Nation made pioneering use of advanced camera...
and starring Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp
Donald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
. It is now considered to be a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
.
Cast
- Donald CrispDonald CrispDonald Crisp was an English film actor. He was also an early motion picture producer, director and screenwriter...
as 'Bull' McGee - Edna Foster as Crippled girl
- Earle FoxeEarle FoxeEarle Foxe was an American actor.-Background:Foxe was born Earl Aldrich Fox in Oxford, Ohio, to Charles Aldrich Fox, originally of Flint, Michigan, and Eva May Herron. His older half sister was Ethel May Fox, a music teacher, born in Michigan to Charles Aldrich Fox and Katie Eldridge. Always very...
- Robert HarronRobert HarronRobert "Bobby" Harron was an American motion picture actor of the early silent film era. Although he acted in scores of films, he is possibly best remembered for his roles in the D.W. Griffith directed films Intolerance and The Birth of a Nation...
as Larry Joyce - Ralph LewisRalph Lewis (actor)Ralph Percy Lewis was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 160 films between 1912 and 1938.He was born in Englewood, Illinois and died in Los Angeles, California.-Selected filmography:...
as The Senator - Walter LongWalter Long (actor)Walter Huntley Long was an American character actor in films from the 1910s. He was born in Nashua, New Hampshire.-Career:He appeared in many D. W...
- Mae MarshMae MarshMae Marsh was an American film actress with a career spanning over 50 years.-Early life:...
as Jennie Joyce - Owen MooreOwen MooreOwen Moore was an Irish-born actor in American films, appearing in more than 279 movies spanning from 1908 to 1937.-Life and career:...
as Doctor von Eiden - Blanche Sweet as May Joyce
- Fay TincherFay TincherFay Tincher was a comic actress in motion pictures of the silent film era. She was from Topeka, Kansas. Her hair was black and her eyes were brown. Tincher's appearance was sometimes compared to that of a French woman....
as An adventuress - F. A. TurnerF. A. TurnerF. A. Turner was an American actor of the silent era. He appeared in 68 films between 1914 and 1922. He was born in New York.-Selected filmography:* Home, Sweet Home * The Quicksands...
as Jim Joyce - Tammany YoungTammany YoungTammany Young was an American stage and film actor, who appeared with W.C. Fields in seven films.-Early life:...
as McGee's henchman
Plot
The film began with a short prologue explaining the science of Eugenics; contrasting the careful selection observed in the animal world with the less predictable breeding habits of humans. This is illustrated by the story of the Joyce family, headed by Jim Joyce (Turner), a cruel and senseless man. Joyce's son Larry (Harron) is by nature a sensitive kid, but Jim Joyce turns him into a heartless monster, strangling a cat as a sort of coming of ageComing of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
ritual.
Larry Joyce contracts a case of syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
, and seeks out treatment from Doctor Von Eiden (Moore), who also takes an keen interest in Larry's sister May (Sweet). Von Eiden encourages May to make a break with her family, and she succeeds. However she is unable to find employment and enters into a relationship with a wealthy senator (Lewis) as a kept woman. While May will not marry the Senator, her sister Jennie (Marsh) does marry a man named "Bull" McGee (Crisp), an abusive lout just like her father.
Their infant child is killed when McGee trips over its cradle in a drunken stupor, and Jennie becomes delusional, endlessly rocking the cradle with a doll inside. McGee is repulsed by her condition and puts Jennie away quietly through selling her into prostitution. May manages to wrest Jennie away from this peril, but Jennie expires soon after. Von Eiden, however, has managed to restore Larry's original sensitivity through a surgical procedure; May has broken off the relationship with the Senator and agrees to marry Von Eiden.
Historical background and legacy
The Escape was based on a play by Paul ArmstrongPaul Armstrong
Paul Armstrong is an Irish footballer. His most natural position is in the centre of midfield, although he has played as a defender...
, a prolific playwright best known for his properties Alias Jimmy Valentine
Alias Jimmy Valentine
Alias Jimmy Valentine is a 1928 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film directed by Jack Conway, and starring William Haines, Leila Hyams, Lionel Barrymore, and Karl Dane. It is sourced from the O. Henry story,A Retrieved Reformation which was turned into the 1910 play Alias Jimmy Valentine by Paul Armstrong. The...
(1910) and Salomy Jane (1907). Griffith's film version was begun first, finished second, but released third among the cycle of five films he made at Reliance-Majestic Studios
Reliance-Majestic Studios
Reliance-Majestic Studios was an early American movie studio in Hollywood, California, originally built around 1914 at 4516 Sunset Boulevard.Within a few years, it became the home of D. W. Griffith and Mutual Film Corporation. Later the studio's name was changed to Fine Arts Studios, and was...
between his ouster at Biograph
Biograph Studios
Biograph Studios was a studio facility and film laboratory complex built in 1912 by the Biograph Company, formerly American Mutoscope and Biograph Company, at 807 E. 175th Street, in the Bronx, New York....
and the advent of The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation
The Birth of a Nation is a 1915 American silent film directed by D. W. Griffith and based on the novel and play The Clansman, both by Thomas Dixon, Jr. Griffith also co-wrote the screenplay , and co-produced the film . It was released on February 8, 1915...
(1915). Filming of The Escape began in New York, but was completed in California, partly due to an illness in the cast. There was a long delay in getting it out; although Mutual Film
Mutual Film
Mutual Film Corporation was an early American motion picture conglomerate best remembered today as the producers of some of Charlie Chaplin's greatest comedies....
finally released it on June 1, 1914, response to The Escape was of a mixed character and the film was dumped on the States' Rights market by the end of the year.
Lillian Gish
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish was an American stage, screen and television actress whose film acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912 to 1987....
recalled The Escape as one of the finest films Griffith ever made, whereas Griffith himself regarded its failure as a momentary distraction during the planning stages of The Birth of a Nation. Iris Barry first reported The Escape as a lost film in 1940 and despite an international search for Griffith's film output lasting the decades since, The Escape remains one among a small handful of Griffith features that have never been located.