The Unattainable is a 1916 American black and white silent drama directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on the story by Elwood D. Henning. The photoplay stars Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson.
The film opens by introducing us to Bessie Gale, a regular on the New York nightclub scene. In her circle, she's known as "the unattainable". A wealthy gentleman starts to pursue her. She finds relief from his romantic pursuits by joining a traveling theatrical company. The troupe heads out West. After Bessie misses a train connection, she meets a sheep rancher, and they get married. Then, her husband makes a major discovery which leads to a new series of adventures.
The film was released on September 4, 1916, by Universal
Plot
Bessie Gale is a well-known chorus girl in the New York cabaret and theater scene. Her friends lovingly nicknamed her "The Unattainable." Through the years, she has acquired the reputation for being unapproachable to potential suitors. Henry Morton is a wealthy individual who also frequents the club scene. Morton, upon meeting Bessie, begins his pursuit to win her heart.
Seeking relief from the club scene and her wealthy pursuer, Bessie joins a traveling theatrical troupe. She boards the train with the rest of the performers and heads west. The train carrying the performers stops at a way station in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The stunning scenery surrounding the train amazes Bessie. She gets off the train to enjoy the view. As she takes in the breathtaking landscapes, she wanders too far and misses the departing train.
Bessie asks the locals for assistance in finding shelter for the night. She attracts the attention of Robert Goodman and his mother. They recognize her situation and offer her a place to stay for the night. Eagerly, she accepts, and they head to the Goodman's sheep ranch. She informs the Goodmans that she intends to catch tomorrow's train and join her theater group. The following day, they returned to the way station. The train arrives on time, bearing a message from the manager of the stock company. According to the message, Bessie has lost her job because she failed to board the train with her coworkers yesterday. The Goodman offers comfort, assuring her that she can stay on the ranch for as long as she wants until she figures out her next moves. While staying on the ranch, Bessie makes a strong impression on Robert's mother, and Robert falls in love. Over time, Robert proposes to Bassie, and she accepts. They get married and start a peaceful life on the Goodman's sheep ranch. Bessie embraces a new life as a sheepherder's wife, leaving her past behind.
The Goodman family faces a crisis as their sheep begin to die unexpectedly. Robert traces the cause of death to the sheep eating a poisonous weed. Through hard work, Robert successfully creates a cure for the infected sheep. Unexpectedly, his recent remedy has a lucrative market. A New York company is willing to purchase the formula for a significant amount. After the agreements are finalized, the drug company asks Robert to travel to New York to sign papers and receive his royalty check. In order to avoid leaving his sheep unattended, Robert asks his mother to go instead. As she's getting ready to leave for New York, she slips and injures herself. In a last-minute decision, Robert asks if Bessie can go to New York in place of his mother. Bessie agrees to make the trip and heads to New York. After arriving, she signs the paperwork and collects the royalty check. Prior to leaving New York, she feels an inexplicable pull to revisit her old haunts.
The allure of her former glamorous life as a chorus girl pulls her back. She starts to return to her old way of life. Her previous theater manager offers her a job. Henry Morton resurfaces after getting wind of Bessie's comeback on the circuit and continues his quest for the Unattainable. Through their exchange of letters, Robert learns that Bessie has made a return to the stage and is now performing in New York. He makes a sudden decision to travel to New York without informing anyone. Without delay, he begins searching for his wife. Robert catches Bessie and Henry on a romantic dinner date. Filled with rage and anger, Goodman brutally assaults Morton. As the two men fight, Morton pulls out a gun and shoots Robert. Bleeding heavily, Goodman is rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.
Emotionally, Morton is overwhelmed by the guilt of his actions towards Goodman. Morton hurries to the hospital and offers to give blood in order to save Goodman's life. Unfortunately, Morton has the wrong blood type. Bessie becomes consumed by emotion as she watches her husband's life fade away. She takes a blood test, and the results match. Bessie is prepared for the procedure, and the transfusion starts. Robert gradually begins to regain his health. Once Robert's strength returns, he sees Bessie lying beside him on the table. Rising to his feet, he quickly heads over to her. They share a warm and loving embrace. After they have regained their health, they go back to the Goodman's sheep farm in Peace Valley. They live happily ever after.
Cast {| ! style="text-align: left; width: 150px;"| Actor ! style="text-align: left; width: 150px;"| Role |- style="text-align: left;"width: 100px;"| |Dorothy Davenport||Bessie Gale||rowspan="16"| |- |Emory Johnson||Robert Goodman |- |Mattie Witting||Mrs. Goodman |- |Richard Morris||Henry Morton |- |Alfred Allen||Theatre Manager
Production Pre-production
In the book, "American Cinema's Transitional Era," the authors point out, One aspect of this transition was the longer duration of films. Feature films were slowly becoming the standard fare for Hollywood producers. Before 1913, you could count the yearly features on two hands. Between 1915 and 1916, the number of feature movies rose times or from 342 films to 835. There was a recurring claim that Carl Laemmle was the longest-running studio chief resisting the production of feature films. Universal was not ready to downsize its short film business because short films were cheaper, faster, and more profitable to produce than feature films.
Laemmle would continue to buck this trend while slowly increasing his output of features. In 1914, Laemmle published an essay titled - In 1916, Laemmle ran an advertisement extolling Bluebird films while adding the following vocabulary on the top of the ad. Carl Laemmle released 91 feature-length films in 1916, as stated in Clive Hirschhorn's book,
Casting Dorothy Davenport (1895–1977) was an established star for Universal when the year-old actress played Bessie Gale. This feature would be Davenport's introduction to the She had acted in hundreds of movies by the time she starred in this film. The majority of these films were 2-reel shorts, as was the norm in Hollywood's teen years. She had been making movies since 1910. She started dating Wally Reid when she was barely 16, and he was 20. They married in 1913. After her husband died in 1923, she used the name "Mrs. Wallace Reid" in the credits for any project she took part in. Besides being an actress, she would eventually become a film director, producer, and writer. Emory Johnson (1894–1960) was years old when he acted in this movie as Robert Goodman. This feature would be Johnson's introduction to the In January 1916, Emory signed a contract with Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Carl Laemmle of Universal Film Manufacturing Company thought he saw great potential in Johnson, so he chooses him to be Universal's new leading man. Laemmle's hope was Johnson would become another Wallace Reed. A major part of his plan was to create a movie couple that would sizzle on the silver screen. Laemmle thought Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson could create the chemistry he sought. Johnson and Davenport would complete 13 films together. They started with the successful feature production of Doctor Neighbor in May 1916 and ended with The Devil's Bondwoman in November 1916. After completing the last movie, Laemmle thought Johnson did not have the screen presence he wanted. He decided not to renew his contract. Johnson would make 17 movies in 1916, including 6 shorts and 11 feature-length Dramas. 1916 would become the second-highest movie output of his entire acting career. Emory acted in 25 films for Universal, mostly dramas with a sprinkling of comedies and westerns. Richard Morris (1862–1924) was a year-old actor when he played Henry Morton. He was a character actor and former opera singer known for Granny (1913). He would eventually participate in many Johnson projects, including |In the Name of the Law (1922), The Third Alarm (1922), The West~Bound Limited (1923), The Mailman (1923) until his untimely death in 1924. Alfred Allen (1866–1947) was years old when he was selected to play Theatre Manager. Allen was highly educated, had a commanding presence and stood six feet tall, and weighed two hundred pounds. He got his start in the film industry at Universal city in 1913. He landed his first role in 1915. His roles were character parts, and he played mostly fathers, villains, or ranch owners. Alfred Allen appeared in 69 features from 1916 through 1929. After Heartaches he would appear in four more Davenport-Johnson projects: A Yoke of Gold, The Unattainable, The Human Gamble, and Barriers of Society.
Director
Lloyd B. Carleton (–1933) started working for Carl Laemmle in the Fall of 1915. Carleton arrived with impeccable credentials, having directed some 60 films for the likes of Thanhouser, Lubin, Fox, and Selig.Wikipedia Lloyd Carleton page
Between March and December 1916, 44-year-old Lloyd Carleton directed 16 movies for Universal, starting with The Yaqui and ending with The Morals of Hilda released on December 11, 1916. Emory Johnson acted in all 16 of these films. Of Carleton's total 1916 output, 11 were feature films, and the rest were two-reel shorts.
Screenplay Eugene B. Lewis (1878–1924) wrote the screen adaptation for this film based on a story by Elwood D. Henning.
Filming Exteriors To capture the rustic atmosphere called for in the film, director Lloyd Carleton's company paid a visit to a big sheep ranch located near Los Angeles, California. The ranch was located in the northwestern San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. The surrounding area provided one of several ideal backgrounds for the film. Hence, broad segments of the film's exteriors were shot in Chatsworth Park, California. Another area ideally suited for background footage was the Sierra Nevada Mountains located in the state of Nevada.
The beginning scenes of the film stand out because they showcase over 3,000 sheep filmed at Chatsworth Park ranch in California.
The blood transfusion procedure in the hospital scene is portrayed realistically and follows the correct protocols. Universal City's state-of-the-art hospital was the location for shooting the transfusion scenes.
Interiors On March 15, 1915, Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios. The interiors were filmed in the studio complex at Universal City, California.
Working title During the production of films, a project must have a way to be referenced. The project is given a working title. An is another term for a Working Title. Frequently, the working title turns into the release title.
During this film's development, the working title was listed as -
Post production The theatrical release of this film totaled five reels or 5,000 feet of film. As is often the case, the listed time for this feature-length movie varies. The average time per 1,000-foot 35mm reel varied between ten and fifteen minutes per reel at the time. Thus, the total time for this movie is computed between fifty and seventy-five minutes.
Release and reception Official release The copyright was filed with U.S. Copyright Office on August 10, 1916. and entered in the record as shown: