'Chest of Fortune' (quiet in the back, there!) is an American film from the Kalem (K-L-M) Studio, which was the first Yank film studio to publicise the real names of its actors. Before Kalem, all movie actors were either anonymous or required to emote under house names which remained the property of their studio: for instance, before Mabel Normand achieved stardom at Keystone, she acted in Biograph films as 'Muriel Fortescue'. This lurk was to prevent actors from demanding more money as their names became better-known.
I viewed a print of 'Chest of Fortune' from the archives of Nederlands Filmmuseum in Amsterdam; the original intertitles had been removed (a shame, since Kalem often featured very beautiful title cards) and replaced with very prosaic captions in Dutch. The character names which I cite here are the ones in the Dutch print. If it turns out that the original U.S. print gave the characters entirely different names (this sometimes happens), I'm sure that my Internet detractors will dine out on the discrepancies between my review and their own sources.
This movie seems to start out as a war drama: specifically, the American Civil War. The Union forces under Captain Wellington are advancing on a house in Southern territory. While the black 'servants' (white actors in burnt cork) have minstrel-show conniption fits, the family pack up their small boy and a few belongings in a chest (no, the boy isn't in the chest) and attempt to escape in a dinghy.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Just when we think that this movie will be about a Southern family in Civil War days, the action jumps to modern-day 1914, still in the southern United States. Handsome Jack (Guy Coombs) is in love with the fair lady played by Marguerite Clayton. The beauteous Miss Clayton's role in this film is cried Käthe: at least, that's what it says her name is in these Dutch title cards. I'm reasonably certain that "Käthe" isn't her name in the original Stateside prints, but that's what I'm calling her in this review. (Grease up your modems and point out my errors, oh ye Internet critics.)
Jack's rival for the affections of the beauteous Whatsername is Harry Meinling, another name that sounds suspiciously like a Dutch translation. (Whoever he is, he's played by Harry F. Millarde ... whoever HE is.) Jack's job has got summat to do with a dredging machine, and now the dredger pulls up an object which we recognise as that pesky chest from Civil War days. Amazingly, this wooden chest has been underwater for nigh on fifty years, but it's still in good nick ... and the contents are dry, too. Those contents turn out to be quite prosaic, such as a small boy's trousers. From this point onward, nothing much happens ... at least, not in the print which I viewed.
While watching this rather pointless film, I was reminded of a true incident from America's real Civil War. One Confederate family in Kentucky had made their fortune from a brewery. If you know anything about breweries, you know that the flavour of the booze is dependent upon the yeast: the yeast must be cultured and cultivated. It takes decades, even centuries, to perfect a yeast culture: if that culture is destroyed, you can't just substitute any yeast culture at random. Anyroad, a Union regiment came through Kentucky and supposedly robbed this Southern family of everything they owned, except a jug: the family gave up everything else without a struggle, but were ready to defend that jug with their lives. The Union commander assumed that the jug must contain gold or jewels; when he discovered it contained only yeast, he decided that the family were crazy and he left them alone. They got to keep their yeast.
I was reminded of the above (true?) story while I watched 'Chest of Fortune', because the contents of the titular chest in this movie are about as interesting as yeast. Maybe a scene is missing from this print, in which case my Internet critics will let me know about it. I'll rate this drama just 4 out of 10.
I viewed a print of 'Chest of Fortune' from the archives of Nederlands Filmmuseum in Amsterdam; the original intertitles had been removed (a shame, since Kalem often featured very beautiful title cards) and replaced with very prosaic captions in Dutch. The character names which I cite here are the ones in the Dutch print. If it turns out that the original U.S. print gave the characters entirely different names (this sometimes happens), I'm sure that my Internet detractors will dine out on the discrepancies between my review and their own sources.
This movie seems to start out as a war drama: specifically, the American Civil War. The Union forces under Captain Wellington are advancing on a house in Southern territory. While the black 'servants' (white actors in burnt cork) have minstrel-show conniption fits, the family pack up their small boy and a few belongings in a chest (no, the boy isn't in the chest) and attempt to escape in a dinghy.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Just when we think that this movie will be about a Southern family in Civil War days, the action jumps to modern-day 1914, still in the southern United States. Handsome Jack (Guy Coombs) is in love with the fair lady played by Marguerite Clayton. The beauteous Miss Clayton's role in this film is cried Käthe: at least, that's what it says her name is in these Dutch title cards. I'm reasonably certain that "Käthe" isn't her name in the original Stateside prints, but that's what I'm calling her in this review. (Grease up your modems and point out my errors, oh ye Internet critics.)
Jack's rival for the affections of the beauteous Whatsername is Harry Meinling, another name that sounds suspiciously like a Dutch translation. (Whoever he is, he's played by Harry F. Millarde ... whoever HE is.) Jack's job has got summat to do with a dredging machine, and now the dredger pulls up an object which we recognise as that pesky chest from Civil War days. Amazingly, this wooden chest has been underwater for nigh on fifty years, but it's still in good nick ... and the contents are dry, too. Those contents turn out to be quite prosaic, such as a small boy's trousers. From this point onward, nothing much happens ... at least, not in the print which I viewed.
While watching this rather pointless film, I was reminded of a true incident from America's real Civil War. One Confederate family in Kentucky had made their fortune from a brewery. If you know anything about breweries, you know that the flavour of the booze is dependent upon the yeast: the yeast must be cultured and cultivated. It takes decades, even centuries, to perfect a yeast culture: if that culture is destroyed, you can't just substitute any yeast culture at random. Anyroad, a Union regiment came through Kentucky and supposedly robbed this Southern family of everything they owned, except a jug: the family gave up everything else without a struggle, but were ready to defend that jug with their lives. The Union commander assumed that the jug must contain gold or jewels; when he discovered it contained only yeast, he decided that the family were crazy and he left them alone. They got to keep their yeast.
I was reminded of the above (true?) story while I watched 'Chest of Fortune', because the contents of the titular chest in this movie are about as interesting as yeast. Maybe a scene is missing from this print, in which case my Internet critics will let me know about it. I'll rate this drama just 4 out of 10.