The Renegade (1915)
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Charles Ray | Louise Glaum | Charles Swickard (Director)
Rest of cast:
Herschel Mayall | Ethel Ullman | William H. Clifford (Story) | Thomas H. Ince (Producer)
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“The Renegade”
Two-Reel Broncho of intrinsic interest and superior treatment.
Reviewed by Louis Reeves Harrison.
Artistic covers the entire treatment of The Renegade, and this applies to the very pretty conclusion. The mounting of a play of this kind, presenting as it does scenes in darkest Africa and glimpses of high life in England is a craft by itself. To be sure, it is called into existence for the sake of a larger art, but it has a positive function in moving pictures and one to which little attention is given by directors. The fine taste shown in The Renegade gives evidence that the art of producing is composite. The play contains the theme, the plot, the characters, and, above all things, the structure, but it usually meets with pictured expression so inadequate that it is spoiled in the handling. In this case it is glorified by a splendid harmony of treatment from start to finish.
Robert Graves is a white slaver in dark Africa, with a body of slave traders from Morocco under Ali Hamid to call upon in an emergency. The emergency arrives when Captain Marley appears with a body of troops to capture Graves. The troops are surrounded and annihilated with the exception of a sergeant who escapes, and Captain Marley who is captured and thrown into captivity. He is chained to the naked blacks and sold to Ali Hamid as a body servant. He thus meets Normah, a beautiful slave girl, and so completely wins her affections that she plots to spare him further degradation.
Robert Graves has found a letter in the possession of Marley which identifies him as the heir to a title and a fortune. Graves goes to England and successfully impersonates Marley for a while. He enters upon possession of a magnificent estate and the guardianship of a young girl, Alice Craven, whom it is intended that Marley shall wed. The impostor’s conduct, especially under the influence of drink, repels the girl, and she gives her heart to a suitor in humble circumstances.
The sergeant who escaped finds his way to the main body of English troops and they set forth to rescue Captain Marley. He meets them on their way, having been assisted to escape by Normah. He returns to England and presents his claim so convincingly that he is permitted to expose the impostor in an ingenious manner. He recovers his estate, but he finds that Alice Craven has made a natural selection, and he gives it his benediction. The conclusion is a very deft touch, one entirely satisfactory without being commonplace, one which must be seen to be appreciated.
The story itself is interesting, and it is raised far above the average by an artistic taste that fits the presentation beautifully to the play. The charm of it is that, far from being intrusive, it concentrates attention on the action. It accomplishes what the sympathetic accompaniment does for the song.
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Scene from The Renegade (Broncho).
Collection: Moving Picture World, March 1915