...De Last Van der Sterkele!
Or, The Strong Man's Burden, (1913) version from the Dutch EYE Institute. There are only 7 title cards of any type in it, so I translated with some googling and other help those seven and inserted captions on the cards themselves in English. The first card was missing for some reason, but I had the Dutch words that should have been on it, so the first title "card" is a fade-in one. The link to watch it is right above the film poster below.
Lionel Barrymore plays "John", or the Strong Man/ Policeman son of a dying elderly lady played by Kate Bruce. Harry Carey plays the feckless and weak "Bob", a petty thief. William J. Butler as the doctor and Claire McDowell as the old woman's nurse round out the cast. It is a fifteen minute drama which finds John and Bob at odds, but then John is in a conundrum (the "Strong Man's Burden") involving his brother and his mother's impending death. It's a nice short film, in which Mr. B looks big and strong and acts rather morally but also surprisingly. Many of his later physical acting habits and tics (like Jack Barrymore's odd head tilt/swivel) are already apparent here. He also looks older than his years, apropos of the big brother. Harry Carey is good as the ne'er-do-well Bob, who really is a bounder, nay, a cad even! I wondered when watching it if at times Lionel wanted to smack Jack upside the head for his little brother's shenanigans!
There are outdoor shots and a measure of intense action. Directed by Anthony O'Sullivan, it's a worthy 15 minutes.
Post four of Lionel's Birthday Blog Bash. You're welcome.
Or, The Strong Man's Burden, (1913) version from the Dutch EYE Institute. There are only 7 title cards of any type in it, so I translated with some googling and other help those seven and inserted captions on the cards themselves in English. The first card was missing for some reason, but I had the Dutch words that should have been on it, so the first title "card" is a fade-in one. The link to watch it is right above the film poster below.
Lionel Barrymore plays "John", or the Strong Man/ Policeman son of a dying elderly lady played by Kate Bruce. Harry Carey plays the feckless and weak "Bob", a petty thief. William J. Butler as the doctor and Claire McDowell as the old woman's nurse round out the cast. It is a fifteen minute drama which finds John and Bob at odds, but then John is in a conundrum (the "Strong Man's Burden") involving his brother and his mother's impending death. It's a nice short film, in which Mr. B looks big and strong and acts rather morally but also surprisingly. Many of his later physical acting habits and tics (like Jack Barrymore's odd head tilt/swivel) are already apparent here. He also looks older than his years, apropos of the big brother. Harry Carey is good as the ne'er-do-well Bob, who really is a bounder, nay, a cad even! I wondered when watching it if at times Lionel wanted to smack Jack upside the head for his little brother's shenanigans!
There are outdoor shots and a measure of intense action. Directed by Anthony O'Sullivan, it's a worthy 15 minutes.
The Strong Man's Burden (with English captions)
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| Lithograph made in the UK of (one of) the film's posters. |
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