The Woman in Black
R: Lawrence Marston. B: Based on the play “The woman in black” by H. Grattan Donnelly. K: Tony G. Gaudio. D: Lionel Barrymore, Alan Hale, Mrs. Lawrence Marston, Marie Newton, Millicent Evans, Charles Hill Mailes, Hector V. Sarno, Jack Drumier, Frank Evans. P: Klaw & Erlanger, Biograph Company. USA 1914
Print: Library of Congress
Music (from original 78 rpm records of the late 1910s and the early 1920s) added by Robert Fells

“The Woman in Black is based on a successful play produced by the powerful Klaw and Erlanger combine that dominated much of the American theater in the early 20th century. In the 1910s, the company began filming some of its most popular plays but ultimately the venture was not successful. In this film, Lionel Barrymore starred with Alan Hale (Sr.), both of whom would have long careers in movies extending through 1950.”
YouTube

Summary
“Mary, a young gypsy girl, is seduced by the immoral Robert Crane and abandoned. She is exiled from the gypsies and, along with her mother Zenda, known as ‘The Woman in Black,’ she vows revenge. Meanwhile, Crane blackmails Stella Everett’s father into forcing her to marry him, even though she loves Frank Mansfield, Crane’s rival for a congressional seat. Frank wins, but Stella still faces the prospect of marriage to Crane until Zenda comes to her with a plan. On their wedding day, after the vows are recited, Crane lifts the veil from his wife’s face and discovers that his bride is actually Mary. Now Stella and Frank are free to marry, and Zenda has gained her revenge.”
AFI catalog

Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore, original name Lionel Herbert Blythe, (born April 28, 1878, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. — died November 15, 1954, Van Nuys, California), American stage, film, and radio actor who forged a career as one of the most important character actors of the early 20th century. Perhaps the least flamboyant member of the Barrymore acting family, he was best known to modern audiences for his performance as Mr. Potter in the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). Barrymore was the son of the stage actors Maurice and Georgiana Barrymore, founders of the celebrated family of actors. Although he appeared in a few plays in his teens, he did not intend to enter the family profession and instead studied painting in Paris for three years. He found that he was unable to earn a living as a painter, however, and he returned to the United States and to acting. (…)

In 1926 Barrymore left Broadway permanently for Hollywood and began a long line of outstanding screen characterizations. His early notable films included Sadie Thompson (1928) and The Mysterious Island (1929). His performance as an alcoholic defense attorney in A Free Soul (1931) won him an Academy Award as best actor. He appeared with his brother, John, in Grand Hotel (1932) and with both John and their sister, Ethel, in Rasputin and the Empress (1932). (…) In his later years Barrymore projected an image of an irascible (but usually lovable) curmudgeon, a role in which he exploited to the fullest his distinctive traits — a tall stooped posture (though, because of arthritis and other injuries, he usually performed in a wheelchair from 1938 on), shaggy eyebrows, and a hoarse, rasping voice. His portrayal of the avaricious Mr. Potter in Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life belongs to this period.”
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

>>> Lionel Barrymore on this website: The Little Tease,  The House of Darkness,  The Burglar’s Dilemma, The New York Hat,  The Musketeers of Pig Alley, Friends,  The Miser’s Heart,  Death’s Marathon,  The Battle at Elderbush Gulch,  The Switchtower

Lawrence Marston (1857–1939)
“Lawrence Marston was a well-known stage director, among whose accomplishments were ‘Ben Hur’, ‘The Prince of India’, and ‘Thais’ for his long-time employers, Klaw & Erlanger. Lawrence Marston was with Thanhouser in 1912 and 1913 and directed a number of films there, including Thanhouser’s first three-reel production released as a single unit, The Star of Bethlehem. (…) Marston departed from Thanhouser and went to American Biograph, where he was located by late autumn 1913.”
Thanhouser Biographies

>>> Marston films on this site: The Evidence of the Film,  His Uncle’s Wives,  When the Studio Burned