A Slave to Drink
(1909) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 950 feet
Directed by Sidney Olcott
Cast: Gene Gauntier, George Melford
Kalem Company, Incorporated, production; distributed by Kalem Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Gene Gauntier. Cinematography by Knute Rahmn. / Released 31 December 1909. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The production was shot at Kalem’s studio in Jacksonville, Florida.
Drama.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 15 January 1910, page ?] A temperance story which represents first the mastery drink may exert over a man, his successive efforts to overcome the temptation, and his final mastery. Temperance sermons and lectures are, as a rule, little wanted. Yet this film possesses a fascination, difficult to describe, yet none the less vivid. One must needs follow it to the end with the closest attention, even though one may feel that it is really a disguised temperance discourse, and may, perhaps, for that reason, be repugnant in some degree. The acting is quite as good as it is in the average Kalem play, better, possibly, than some of them, because it has a degree of dramatic possibility which not all have possessed. And probably it is helped, to some extent, at least, by the suggestion of the subject. Often one’s own imagination assists materially in the development of the play and adds much to its interest.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 5 April 2024.
References: MovPicWorld-19100108 p. 34 : Website-AFI.
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