User Reviews

Recognizing the dramatic qualities in "Silas Marner," the Biograph Company have produced a film under the above title which is a free adaptation of the novel, but is sufficiently allied to it to retain all the interest of the' story. The only change that in any way varies from the original is, the hero of the story is made a cobbler instead of a linen weaver. But this does not seem incongruous or wrong. The tale is told in quite the same way and the interest is quite as great. The film might have been entitled "The Power of the Child" and it would not have been far wrong. Perhaps no picture ever put on the screen more clearly or emphatically recognized the influence of a child in softening a hard heart. The story tells of Silas Marner, originality a charitably disposed individual, who, through unjust accusation, is made selfish and miserly. His only pleasure consists in counting his gold. And when thieves take that from him, he is almost a maniac. Then, just as he is raving the worst, a little child, whose deserted mother had died by the roadside, toddles across his threshold and falls exhausted at his feet. He takes the little one in his arms and murmurs, "This shall be my recompense," and one fancies that the exchange is more than fair. The child and its love is worth more than the gold, worth more than many times the amount of gold he had lost. The dramatic strength of the story has been recognized by everyone who has ever read it, even though it is a simple narrative; and in the film the simplicity is retained, the strength and interest being concentrated in the acting, which is in harmony with the tale. It is difficult to see where it could be improved. It is so good now, that one almost feels as though the actual scenes were moving before one. It doesn't seem as though motion pictures could come so near speaking as they do in this film. The photographic quality is beyond reproach. Like all the Biograoh subjects of late, the technical and dramatic qualities are alike satisfactory. One can enjoy the story the film tells, since the pictures are a pleasure to look at and deserve only commendation. - The Moving Picture World, October 9, 1909