The Eternal Mother (1917 film)

The Eternal Mother is a surviving 1917 American silent drama film directed by Frank Reicher and stars Ethel Barrymore. The picture is taken from a novel, Red Horse Hill, by Sidney McCall, an alias for Mary McNeill Fenollosa.[1]

The Eternal Mother
Newspaper advertisement
Directed byFrank Reicher
Written byMary Murillo (scenario)
Based onRed Horse Hill
by Sidney McCall
Produced byMetro Pictures
StarringEthel Barrymore
CinematographyGeorge Webber
Distributed byMetro Pictures
Release date
  • November 26, 1917 (1917-11-26)
Running time
50 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Plot

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As described in a film magazine,[2] Maris (Barrymore) endeavors to persuade her husband Dwight Alden (Mills) to replace the children working in his mills with man and women, but Alden does not listen to his wife's pleas. One night a little girl is injured and Maris, calling on her, discovers that she is her own daughter from a previous marriage who she thought was dead. She finds that her former husband, whom she also believed to be dead, is still living. Maris returns to her home, unable to forget her little girl. When the girl runs away from her father and comes to Maris, Maris leaves Alden, explaining her reasons in a letter. Alden learns that Maris' former husband secured a divorce so that he might marry another woman. With this evidence, and after clearing his factories of child workers, Alden goes to Maris and begs her and her child to return home with him.

Preservation status

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  • A copy has been id'd in the Bois d'Arcy archive.[3]

Cast

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ The Eternal Mother at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
  2. ^ "Reviews: The Eternal Mother". Exhibitors Herald. 5 (24). New York: Exhibitors Herald Company: 26. December 8, 1917.
  3. ^ The Library of Congress/FIAF American Silent Feature Film Survival Catalog:The Eternal Mother
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