Duty (1911) User Reviews

It might have been more convincing if it had been acted more naturally

[deickemeyer · 13 April 2016]

Many good qualities in this picture keep the interest awake from beginning to end. It is not a great picture, and it might have been more convincing if it had been acted more naturally. It is a story of a rocky coast. In the opening scene we see that the wife of the keeper of the light is sick. The keeper has two children, the older merely a lad of about nine. The time comes when it is necessary for the keeper to make sure that everything in the lantern chamber is in good order for the night. He and the boy climb the tower stairs and we see that the light is encased in a large cylinder with six big bulls-eyes. The case is shown slowly revolving. As father and son busy themselves getting things in shipshape, the revolving lantern suddenly stops. The father attempts to get the machinery going again, but is unable. There is a handle by which when necessary the lantern may be turned by hand. Though this is a hard and tedious job, someone must do it or the stony reef will be dark. The lad is too young to row ashore for the gear that is broken on the motor; the father has to go, and reluctantly the lad is left to turn the lantern. On the return trip, after he has procured the needed gear, the father stoves in his dory on a half-submerged rock and is compelled to swim. It was not possible for the picture to show us how long this swim is. It partly makes up for this by showing that it took him till dawn to reach the lighthouse. Meanwhile, the lad has fallen exhausted. The mother, noticing as she lies on her bed, that the light is out, climbs weakly to the tower and turns while her strength lasts; then she too falls. At dawn, the father reaches the reef and can hardly climb to the light, where he finds the lad unconscious and the mother delirious. There is a pretty scene for the close. We see the government official presenting a medal to the keeper. This he won't accept, for he points out that his wife more truly deserves it. - The Moving Picture World, September 23, 1911