The Price is a 1915 American silent drama film directed and produced by Joseph A. Golden and starring Helen Ware. A five-reel adaptation of George Broadhurst's stage play of the same name, it was produced by the Cosmos Feature Film Corporation and distributed through World Film. Ware, who had previously played the role on stage, was promoted at the time as making her first screen appearance in the film.
Plot A young woman who has been raised in wealth is left penniless and becomes secretary to a successful artist. The artist, who had married his landlady's daughter during his poorer years, becomes attracted to his secretary. Believing herself to be in love with him, the young woman becomes his lover.
She later meets James, a prosperous physician, and realizes that she loves him. Both men wish to marry her, with the artist promising to free himself from his existing marriage. Afraid that James will discover her past, she initially refuses his proposal. When she tells the artist that she no longer loves him, his weak heart gives out and he dies at her feet. She subsequently marries James.
Seeking revenge, the artist's widow obtains a position as housekeeper in the couple's home. She deliberately arouses the wife's jealousy by suggesting that James is in love with another woman. During the resulting confrontation, the widow reveals the wife's former relationship with the artist by reading from her dead husband's diary. The physician leaves his wife, who attempts suicide but is prevented from doing so by her maid. He eventually learns the truth, and the couple are reunited.
Cast Helen Ware as the girl Wilmuth Merkyl as the artist James Cooley as James, the physician Blanche Douglas as the artist's wife
Production In April 1915, the Cosmos Feature Film Corporation announced that it had signed stage actress Helen Ware for her first motion-picture appearance. Ware was known for her performances in plays including The Third Degree, Within the Law and The Price, although the company had not yet selected the play for her film debut. Cosmos subsequently selected The Price, allowing Ware to reprise the role she had performed on stage. By April 30, Variety reported that the film was being "rapidly rushed to completion" at the Cosmos studio with Ware in the principal role, and elsewhere on the same page described it as a feature production that Cosmos would make.
Contemporary sources differ over authorship of the screen adaptation. In May 1915, The Billboard reported that scenario writer Catherine Carr had completed the "picturization" of Broadhurst's play, delivering her adaptation three days after receiving the assignment. Golden was also credited contemporaneously with writing the scenario; a November review in the Gem Worker identified him as both scenarist and director. The American Film Institute credits Golden with the scenario while noting the contemporary attribution to Carr.
A portion of the first reel was devoted to art, including photographs of paintings in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Reviewing the film in Motography, Thomas C. Kennedy praised its settings and direction and specifically credited Golden as producer, describing his work as skillful and judicious. Cinematography was by Lucien Andriot.
The film was copyrighted by the Cosmos Feature Film Corporation on June 22, 1915, under registration number LP5722. Although some contemporary publicity attributed the production to the Triumph Film Corporation, the AFI identifies this attribution as erroneous. The picture was released on the Equitable program through World Film.
Release and reception The Price was released in the United States in October 1915. The American Film Institute gives the release date as October 4, while Motography described it as an Equitable release for October 3. Contemporary publicity emphasized Ware's return to the role she had performed on stage. The Atlanta Georgian described the picture as her first screen appearance, while the Augusta Herald similarly advertised it as Ware's "screen bow".
Reviewing the film for Motography, Thomas C. Kennedy considered the misunderstanding between the married couple a conventional plot device that could have been resolved easily, but praised the production as elaborate and Ware's performance as forceful and accomplished. He also commended James Cooley's supporting performance and the film's settings and direction.
A later review in the Gem Worker likewise praised Ware's handling of a role that the reviewer believed could easily have been overplayed. The review singled out Golden's direction, particularly his handling of the story's emotional scenes, and found the adaptation increasingly effective as it progressed.
Preservation The survival status of The Price is unknown.
References
External links
The Price at Silent Era