Cheerful Givers

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Cheerful Givers
Newspaper advertisement for Cheerful Givers starring Bessie Love.jpg
Newspaper advertisement
Directed by Paul Powell
Written by Mary H. O'Connor [1]
Starring Bessie Love
Kenneth Harlan
Cinematography John W. Leezer [2]
Production
company
Distributed by Triangle Film Corporation
Release date
  • April 15, 1917 (1917-4-15)(U.S.) [3]
Running time
5 reels [4]
CountryUnited States
Language Silent (English intertitles)

Cheerful Givers is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. [1] The film stars Bessie Love and Kenneth Harlan. [5]

Contents

The film is presumed lost.

Plot

Scene featuring Spottiswoode Aitken Scene from Cheerful Givers.jpg
Scene featuring Spottiswoode Aitken

To save her father's orphanage, Judy (Love) answers a request to have the "eldest boy" work in the kitchen of a wealthy, miserly woman. Disguising herself as a boy, she encounters the woman's son, Horace (Harlan), whom she mistrusts. Horace realizes Judy is actually a girl and falls in love with her. Judy ultimately thwarts his plan to steal from his mother's safe. The son repents, and Judy reciprocates his feelings. [3] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Cast

Josephine Crowell and Bessie Love Josephine Crowell and Bessie Love in Cheerful Givers.jpg
Josephine Crowell and Bessie Love

Reception

The film received generally positive reviews, being described as an "adroit comedy" and "perfectly done". [10] It was noted for its broad appeal. [11] [12] [13] [14] However, some reviewers found the pacing too slow. [15]

Bessie Love's performance was generally praised, [16] although it was noted that she had not yet become a major box office draw nationwide. [17] [18]

References

  1. 1 2 "Varying Themes in Four Triangle Presentations". Motion Picture News. Vol. 15, no. 15. p. 2332.
  2. Love, Bessie (1977). From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love. London: Elm Tree Books. p. 149. OCLC   734075937.
  3. 1 2 3 L.H. (April 21, 1917). "Films Reviewed". The Billboard. p. 60.
  4. Kansas State Board of Review (1917). Complete List of Motion Picture Films. p.  14.
  5. Hanson, Patricia King, ed. (1988). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1911–1920. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 101. ISBN   978-0-520-06301-3.
  6. 1 2 Milne, Peter (April 28, 1917). "Screen Examinations". Motion Picture News. Vol. 15, no. 17. p. 2690.
  7. "Pictures and Everything That Appertains Thereto". The Billboard. April 7, 1917. p. 62.
  8. Essex, Bert D. (May 1917). "The Silent Trend". The Photo-Play Journal. Vol. 2, no. 1. p. 26.
  9. Horak, Laura (February 26, 2016). Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908–1934. Rutgers University Press. ISBN   978-0-8135-7484-4.
  10. Johnson, Julian (July 1917). "The Shadow Stage". Photoplay Magazine. Vol. 12, no. 2. pp. 86–87.
  11. Whitman, M.H. (September 15, 1917). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography . Vol. 18, no. 11. p. 542.
  12. Manley, P.F. (September 29, 1917). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography. Vol. 18, no. 13. p. 643.
  13. Trinz, S. (May 5, 1917). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography. Vol. 17, no. 18. p. 920.
  14. Trinz, Edward (May 19, 1917). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography. Vol. 17, no. 20. p. 1028.
  15. Miles, A.N. (March 9, 1918). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography. Vol. 19, no. 10. p. 450.
  16. "At the Oak Park Theater". Forest Leaves. Vol. 11, no. 16. April 20, 1917. p. 4.
  17. Guthrie, George B. (July 14, 1917). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography. Vol. 18, no. 2. p. 61.
  18. Miller, Harry (May 12, 1917). "What the Picture Did for Me". Motography. Vol. 17, no. 19. p. 977.