Edmund Breese for Metro (1915) 🇺🇸
Edmund Breese, the eminent dramatic actor, whose popularity has been growing ever since he began “roughing it” in the adventurous characters he has portrayed in the Popular Plays and Players of Metro picturizations of Robert W. Service’s stirring poems, beginning with The Shooting of Dan McGrew, has scored again in the adaptation of The Song of the Wage Slave, now scheduled for release in the Metro program.
The picture teems with thrilling episodes and shows Mr. Breese at his best.
In The Song of the Wage Slave Mr. Breese is called upon to exemplify many occupations that are absolutely hazardous in their undertaking. His adventures carry him down into the mines, where he swings a pick with “the best of ‘em”; next he is a lumberjack, superintending the dynamiting of a log jam; again he is a prospector flirting with death on the ragged edge of a dangerous cliff.
Breese is thoroughly at home in these heroic parts, his characterization of them being an artistic triumph. His sturdy nature and robust physique stand him in good stead, for few actors could possibly withstand the hardships, or accomplish the feats he does, in the picturization of the Service poems. The fine highlights and shadows of emotion are faithfully portrayed by this capable actor, who possesses the rare gifts essential for an adequate presentation of the chief character in Service’s powerful poem.
The Song of the Wage Slave is the second of the Popular Plays and Players Metro series of Service poems picturized, and Mr. Breese was never seen to better advantage. He is supported by a strong cast, and many of the pictures, made with “the great outdoors” for a background, are wonderful features in themselves.
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Collection: Moving Picture World, October 1915
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