Civilization's Child
{{short description|1916 film by Charles Giblyn}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Civilization's Child
| image = Civilizations Child 1916 newspaper.jpg
| caption = Contemporary advertisement
| director = Charles Giblyn
| producer = Thomas H. Ince
| writer = C. Gardner Sullivan (titles)
| starring = William H. Thompson
Anna Lehr
Jack Standing
| cinematography = Charles E. Kaufman
| released = {{film date|1916}}
| country = United States
| language = Silent with English intertitles
}}
Cast
- William H. Thompson: Boss Jim McManus
- Anna Lehr: Berna
- Jack Standing: Nicolay Turgenev
- Dorothy Dalton: Ellen McManus
- Clyde Benson: Jacob Weil
- J.P. Lockney: Peter Saranoff
- J. Barney Sherry: Judge Sims
The film
Civilization's Child is a silent film from 1916 directed by Charles Giblyn under the supervision of Thomas H. Ince. Like other films produced by Kay-Bee Pictures the film was praised at the time for its artistic title cards, created by Irvin Willat. A reviewer in Moving Picture World mentioned one title card where "the efforts of a ward politician to get an unprotected girl into his clutches was symbolized by a realistic picture of a spider endeavoring to entice an unsuspecting little fly into the meshes of his web".[https://archive.org/stream/movingpicturewor30newy#page/1968/mode/2up "Page for Civilization's Child at the American Silent Feature Film Database"].
No copies of the film are known to survive.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.4305/default.html ""Artistic Subtitles". The Moving Picture World, 30 December 1916, p.1966"].
Plot
After an idyllic childhood in the mountains of Russia, Berna accompanies her uncle to Kiev, to the Jewish part of the city. Many Jewish residents of Kiev are killed by the Cossacks and Berna flees, taking ship for the United States. In New York, she is exploited by a local boss, Jim McManus, who seduces her and puts her out onto the street as a prostitute.
Some time later, Berna marries Nicolai Turgenev, a young musician, and has a baby by him. But Ellen, McManus's daughter, falls in love with Nicolai and succeeds in drawing him away from his family. Meanwhile, McManus has become a judge; he ratifies their separation and grants Nikolai a divorce so that he can marry McManus's daughter and adopt Nikolai's and Berna's child.
Driven mad by desperation, Berna goes to the judge, accuses him of being the cause of her ruin, and kills him.
Production
The film was produced by Kay-Bee Pictures and by the New York Motion Picture Co.
Distribution
The film was distributed by Triangle Distributing, and opened in cinemas on April 23, 1916.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|0157470|Civilization's Child}}
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.4305/default.html Film listing on American Silent Feature Film Database]
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/html/silentfilms/silentfilms-home.html American Silent Feature Film Database]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Civilization's Child}}
Category:Silent American drama films
Category:American silent feature films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Films directed by Charles Giblyn
Category:Lost American drama films
Category:1910s English-language films
Category:English-language drama films
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