Clara Kimball Young is very expressive in this professional product from 1912 and it's rather striking. It's fluid, well constructed and moves along nicely. Maurice Costello displays wonderful naturalism and it's very easy to see that he was indeed a 'Picture Idol'. Nice support from an actor named George Cooper. Considering it all it has to be said that story telling and acting are really first rate and there's great charm in his short running time.
4 Reviews
The Picture Idol review
JoeytheBrit2 July 2020
A winning performance from star-struck Clara Kimball Young - her rapt face as she falls under the spell of screen idol Maurice Costello is a picture - in a mild comedy that looks for laughs in what was presumably a brand new phenomenon in 1912, when actors had only been receiving screen credits for a couple of years
The Problems Of Being Too Popular
boblipton9 July 2020
Maurice Costello, one of the earliest named movie stars, is adored by all the young women in the nickelodeon.... the men don't seem as taken with him. Clara Kimball Young in particular goes through all the conniptions that a movie fan can be expected to, including sending flowers to her adore Maurice.... who seems rather embarrassed by the gesture. He decides to deal with the matter by showing up at her house and exhibiting terrible manners.
This Vitagraph short was made at the peak of Costello's popularity. He was at or near the top of the annual lists of movie stars as voted upon by the readers of fan magazines. He was also, by reputation, an irascible curmudgeon in real life. This funny peak behind the screen is still funny.
This Vitagraph short was made at the peak of Costello's popularity. He was at or near the top of the annual lists of movie stars as voted upon by the readers of fan magazines. He was also, by reputation, an irascible curmudgeon in real life. This funny peak behind the screen is still funny.
All the players seem to have enjoyed playing it
deickemeyer25 November 2016
The Vitagraph Company was well supplied with a leading man to play this situation, its own star romantic hero filled the bill. All the players seem to have enjoyed playing it; it is full of good comedy and made, on Broadway, where it was perhaps best understood, many good, appreciative laughs. A schoolgirl, played by Clara Kimball Young, falls in love with a picture hero, played by Maurice Costello. The girl's parents (Mr. Eldridge and Mrs. Maurice), as well as her schoolboy sweetheart (Mr. Morrison), are troubled. The father goes to see the picture idol and they make up a plan to disillusion the girl. His table manners made laughs, but didn't quite cure the girl; so they made up one of the boys as the idol's wife, and got four kids to come in from the street. This did the business. The camera work is very good. - The Moving Picture World, June 15, 1912
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