The Center of the Web
R: John Harvey. B: Philip Lonergan. D: Claire Kroell, Frank Wood, Sam Niblack, George Niblack, Marguerite Loveridge, Nolan Gane. P: Thanhouser Film Corporation. USA 1914
SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, November 28, 1914:
“Ida Dean, in league with the counterfeiter, George Morley, meets and falls in love with John Linton who is employed in the Secret Service. Morley threatens her, but she continues to receive Linton’s attentions. The action of the latter, however, in helping a young girl who is out of work, rouses Ida’s jealousy. Refusing to believe that Linton’s action was purely from philanthropic motives, she plots with Morley to involve the girl and her father in the counterfeit scheme and then betrays them to the authorities. Linton visits a suburban police station, and in taking a stroll through the country happens upon the counterfeiters’ den. There he discovers his protegée and learns that the woman he loves has been the means of bringing her there. Linton is captured by the gang, and when he fails to return to the police station the officers organize a search party. They reach the den just in time to see Ida Dean save Linton’s life from the assault of the infuriated Morley.”
REVIEW, The Cinema, March 4, 1915:
“Detective film dramas are at the present moment as plentiful as ever, but those which can claim some distinct original innovation are few and far between. Amongst the latter, however, there is a Thanhouser release which includes in its cast a pack of American police-dogs. The work of these animals in tracking down the law-breakers is intensely interesting, and decidedly increases the value of the film as a special draw. The producer, too, has given them plenty of scope, with the result that their operations are not cramped and can be thoroughly appreciated and admired. Apart from the dogs, the plot of The Centre of the Web is quite good, without any trace of exaggeration, and deals with the doings of a gang of counterfeiters. A clever touch is given to the heart interest side by having the heroine a confederate to the head of the gang, and the hero an ambitious and promising young detective. They, of course, are made to meet under favourable circumstances, and the lady becomes passionately fond of the secret service man. (…)”
Thanhouser
The Vagaries of Fate
R: Edgar Jones. D: Edgar Jones, Louise Huff, Tom Walsh, George Gowan, George Hartzell, Jack Ridgeway. P: Lubin Manufacturing Company. USA 1914
Print: Library of Congress
“The film contains a close up, a technique still relatively rare in Lubin films of this date. However, the close view of the bomb makes it clear that the timer–a large alarm clock–and the dynamite are not in any way connected and the “bomb” has no chance of detonation. Edgar Jones was the director of this film and his directorial efforts occasionally lacked attention to details like this.”
Betzwood Film Archive
THE EARLY SILENT ERA 1895-1915