Prolific early silent star Edward Boulden (he was the clerk in the influential early short The Gay Shoe Clerk) makes only his second known screen appearance in this weak effort from J. Searle Dawley and Edwin S. Porter. Without intertitles, the main thrust of the plot is unfathomable, and the final scenes are particularly anti-climactic.
4 Reviews
Just face it: another mishmash from a failing studio
cricket3022 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
Edison Manufacturing Company was nearly exclusively interested in selling MACHINES, and film content was the merest afterthought for MOST of its hired help. Edison NEVER mastered the intricacies of building an effective distribution model, and SATISFIED REPEAT CUSTOMERS were apparently the last thing on his mind. (After all, how could you show a beloved chained-down circus entertainer--Topsy the Elephant--be tortured to death and PARTIALLY killed while being burned alive in a what-I-did-last-summer-to-amuse-myself science experiment demonstrating the effects of electricity, and expect any but the heartless to come back for seconds??) Concocting theories of "missing inter-titles" totally misses the point; Edison hated subtitles and inter-titles since he was either too dyslexic or myopic to read them himself. Edison Manufacturing Co. was the world's last holdout against such explanatory devices since they did not give a flying - - - - about whether viewers understood the action of THE TRAINER'S DAUGHTER, OR, A RACE FOR LOVE (which should have been a THE GIFT OF THE MAGI meets NATIONAL VELVET-type film), or not; all they wanted was to destroy the reputation of the world film industry until their legion of patent lawyers could restrict showings solely to homes purchasing Edison Motion Picture Viewers.
Full Of Action, But Sometimes Incoherent
Snow Leopard2 August 2005
This short drama is full of all kinds of action, but it is not always coherent. The story takes a number of turns but, at least in the state in which the movie currently survives, there are times when it is not entirely clear what is going on. At least one sequence is missing, and there are also no inter-titles that survive (if there were any originally).
The main story has to do with a romantic rivalry for the hand of a horse trainer's daughter, which is to be decided by the result of a horse race. That much is clear, and it was also based on a slightly earlier movie with a similar premise. There is also much that occurs leading up to the race, and while the constant activity produces some excitement, it would take a little more explanation to make it completely comprehensible.
It's quite possible that there are some lost inter-titles, or maybe there was a spoken synopsis designed to be provided to the audience. Or, it might have been assumed that audiences knew what was happening from familiarity with the earlier story in the same vein. In any event, for viewers now it is something of a puzzle to try to fill in the gaps in the story (which can actually be a relatively interesting mental exercise).
The main story has to do with a romantic rivalry for the hand of a horse trainer's daughter, which is to be decided by the result of a horse race. That much is clear, and it was also based on a slightly earlier movie with a similar premise. There is also much that occurs leading up to the race, and while the constant activity produces some excitement, it would take a little more explanation to make it completely comprehensible.
It's quite possible that there are some lost inter-titles, or maybe there was a spoken synopsis designed to be provided to the audience. Or, it might have been assumed that audiences knew what was happening from familiarity with the earlier story in the same vein. In any event, for viewers now it is something of a puzzle to try to fill in the gaps in the story (which can actually be a relatively interesting mental exercise).
Speaking A Different Language
boblipton18 August 2020
Edward Boulder and Miss DeVarney love each other, but her father objects; why is never clear, but fathers always object in this sort of movie. Perhaps it is because he owns horses and Boulder merely trains them. When another suitor appears, he also objects, but they work out a deal where the winner of a race between the two men will determine who gets the lady.... and the other guy cheats.
Other reviewers have called this disjointed and poorly edited. I disagree. Under the direction of Edwin S. Porter, Edison was developing its own film grammar, one which called for broader acting than the restrained pantomime that Griffith would popularize. This meant fewer titles, and a story more accessible to its contemporary audiences than to modern viewers. Edison would continue on in its own way through about 1912.
Other reviewers have called this disjointed and poorly edited. I disagree. Under the direction of Edwin S. Porter, Edison was developing its own film grammar, one which called for broader acting than the restrained pantomime that Griffith would popularize. This meant fewer titles, and a story more accessible to its contemporary audiences than to modern viewers. Edison would continue on in its own way through about 1912.
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