The Easiest Way (1917 film)

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The Easiest Way
The Easiest Way 1917 publicity photo.jpg
Contemporary publicity photo
Directed by Albert Capellani
Written byAlbert Capellani and Frederick Chapin
Based onThe Easiest Way
1909 play
by Eugene Walter
Produced by Clara Kimball Young Company
Starring Clara Kimball Young
CinematographyJacques Monteran
Hal Young
Distributed by Selznick Distributing Corporation
Release date
  • April 1917 (1917-04)
Running time
7 reels
CountryUnited States
Languages Silent
(English intertitles)

The Easiest Way is a 1917 American silent film starring Clara Kimball Young and directed by Albert Capellani. It is based on a 1909 play, The Easiest Way by Eugene Walter, staged by David Belasco and starred Frances Starr as Laura Murdock. Belasco and Starr revived the play in 1921. [1] [2] [3] It is not known whether the film currently survives. [4]

Contents

Actor Joseph Kilgour reprises his role as Brockton from the Broadway play.

Plot summary

Laura Murdock is a young impoverished woman who dreams of becoming actress. After her husband, a drunkard, is killed by a fall, she travels to New York.

In the city, wealthy broker Willard Brorckton has been asked to finance a production and refused. However, he meets Laura, and agrees to finance the film in exchange for Laura being giving a starring role. Brockton demands that Laura repay him for getting her the part, but she initially pushes back.

The following summer, Laura goes to Denver for a stock engagement, where she falls in love with John Madison, a newspaper writer. He cannot afford to marry, and Brockton, who comes west to take Laura back with him, derides the idea of him marrying her. However, Laura promises to wait, and Brockton promises Madison that if Laura returns to him, he will let Madison know.

Laura returns to New York, and Brockton's influence prevents her from getting an engagement. She runs out out of money and resources, and does not hear from Madison, leaving her to turn to her only remaining option, which is returning to Brockton.

Brockton dictates a letter to Madison which Laura promises to mail, but she burns it instead. Meanwhile, Madison finds gold, and finally having enough money to marry Laura, hurries to New York. Laura confesses that she burnt the letter Brockton had promised to sent, and Madison, upset, rejects her.

Deserted by both men, Laura becomes desparate, and tries to fling herself into the excesses of Broadway nightlife. However, she is dsgusted by the indulgences of those around her, and attempts to end her life by drowning herself in the river. Her attempt is unsucessful, and she is rescued and taken to a hospital. Madison is notified, and learns of her fight to stay true to him despite everything that happened. He hurries to her side just in time to let her know that he understands and forgives her, and she dies in his arms. [5]

Production

Portions of the film depicting Colorado Springs were filmed in and around Skyland Resort in what is now Shenandoah National Park. [6]

Cast

References

  1. ↑ The Easiest Way: The Clara Kimball Young website, by Greta deGroat
  2. ↑ The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Fil Institute, c.1988
  3. ↑ The Easiest Way produced on Broadway at the Stuyvesant Theatre, January 19, 1909 to June 1909; IBDB.com
  4. ↑ Progressive Silent Film List: The Easiest Way (1917) at SilentEra.com
  5. ↑ The Easiest Way (1917) - Plot - IMDb . Retrieved November 15, 2025– via www.imdb.com.
  6. ↑ Pollock, George Freeman (1960). Skyland, The Heart of the Shenandoah National Park. Chesapeake Book Company. p. 122.


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