Vengeance of Hate is the 1924 re-issue title of The End of the Circle (1913). Although it does seem somewhat primitive by 1924 standards, this film directed by Jess Robbins, a former photographer who switched to directing in 1913, is certainly worth watching – if only for its surprising story line. The acting from the three principals – hero Fred Church, heroine Eleanor Blevina, drunken villain True Boardman – is fair enough, but it's Evelyn Selbie as the pro that our hero spurns and Lois Ingraham as the foolish heroine's little girl, who contribute the most telling performances. Despite its short running time, Essanay (one of the leading studios at the time) spent a fair amount of money on the movie including real locations in the nearby Hollywood hills, plus at least one elaborate studio scene with lots of extra players, set in a saloon in which the villain drinks and gambles his money away, effectively filmed – if I remember correctly – all in the one take. Available on a Fred Church disc with another somewhat unusual western, Stacked Cards (1926), from Grapevine. To my surprise, Fred Church appeared in no less than 271 movies from 1913 through 1936, most of them shorts and many of them westerns. Church was the number one star player in a significant number of these productions, yet until this disc surfaced from Grapevine in 2014, I'd never even heard of him! We live and learn!
2 Reviews
The story is an unpleasant one
deickemeyer20 January 2018
There is little that is entertaining in these two reels. The story is an unpleasant one. It contains practically no light colors to relieve the gloom created by a revengeful female on one side and a hasty fool woman on the other. At the end what is left to the only cool-brained and level-headed person in the quartet is the privilege of becoming the protector of the child left by the worthless human killed in a drunken fall and the sweetheart of whom he had by trick got away from a good man and then slowly killed her. The story contains two flashes, where five years after the loss of his sweetheart the prospector learns from the Mexican girl how she had been responsible for his unhappiness, and the concluding scene, where the prospector and the little one start out in a big wagon to begin anew. Frederick Church has the lead and True Boardman is his rival; Eleanor Blevins is the sweetheart and Evelyn Selbie the Mexican girl. All do good work, but they were hopelessly handicapped in their story. - The Moving Picture World, December 6, 1913
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