Originally posted on October 6, 2021. Since publishing this post, the library of congress has uploaded the shooting script. I plan to revisit this reconstruction in the future to fix any issues / add content where needed.
On November 20, 1916, Fox Film Corporation released the five reel movie “Jealousy” starring Valeska Suratt in her fourth film. The movie was directed and written by Will S. Davis.
The Players:
Valeska Suratt………….Anne Baxter
Watler Law…………….Peter Martin
Charline Mayfield…………..Agnes Maynard
Curtis Benton…………Roland Carney
Joseph Granby………..Randolph Parsons
George M. Adams………..George Baxter
Just a quick note. It seems as these movies move along, the information I am finding on them is starting to slim down quite a bit. I will try my best to get a good summary put together, but for this film, it will be kind of light.
Anne Baxter (Valeska Suratt) is married to Peter Martin (Watler Law) despite her wishes. It is a loveless marriage. She married Peter for financial reasons. She wants to save her father from ruin and maintain her luxurious lifestyle. The man who she truly loves, Roland Carney (Curtis Benton), would not be able to help her in this manner.
Disappointed in this ordeal, Roland seeks happiness from another woman, Agnes Maynard (Charline Mayfield). Eventually Roland and Agnes get married. When Anne later finds out about this, she becomes jealous and wants to break up this marriage so she can have Roland to herself.
She tries to make Roland suspicious of his wife. She hires Randolph Parsons (Joseph Granby), who is a “man about town”, one that has more leisure time than money. Anne puts together a plan where Agne’s ride breaks down in front of a road house that has Randolph waiting there. Her plan is to have Roland arrive there to find the two together, hoping to cause a rift in the marriage. However this plan does not go as she had hoped and Agne’s innocence prevails.
Her next method is to go after Roland heart, and his financial well being. On her husband’s desk, she finds a memorandum stating “Corner B.H.R. Stock”. She gives Roland a tip on this stock, which he follows.
Peter has learned what is wife is up to and decides to not only punish her, but also Roland. He decides to ruin him. Peter reverses the situation on the stock and it completely wipes Roland out financially.
Roland thinks that Anne has purposely tricked him, so he goes to her house to confront her. While he is there, Anne sees Peter returning. Seeing this as her opportunity for revenge, she tears her clothing and lets her hair down. She then turns out the lights and screams. Peter enters the room and Anne is screaming that Roland had attacked her. Peter is smart to her tactics and informs her of such. He tells Roland to leave, as he has been punished enough due to the financial stock market situation. Peter informs Anne that he is leaving her. Anne falls down senselessly to the floor, which ends the film.
While not as detailed as I would like, I do think there is enough information there to make a good summary of the film. I was not able to find many pictures of the film, but do present what I did find. Hope you enjoyed this post!
Recreation by Bill Piper.
Please do not reuse without permission (just link to the site)
Sources:
Uniontown Morning Herald – Dec 25, 1916
Nelson Colonist – Dec 18, 1917
Lowell Sun – Jan 31, 1917
Honolulu Star Bulletin – Jul 19, 1917
Photoplay issues (forgot to write down the dates)
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