Lost and Won (1917)

Cinders, a news girl, with a love for books, idealizes as her hero a "Daddy Long-legs," who will someday make her a great lady. Bill Holt, a reporter, is one of her best friends. Walter ... See full summary »

Directors:

Frank Reicher, Cecil B. DeMille (uncredited)

Writers:

Channing Pollock (story), Margaret Turnbull

Stars:

Marie Doro, Elliott Dexter, Carl Stockdale

Cast

Credited cast:
Marie Doro	...	Cinders
Elliott Dexter	...	Walter Crane
Carl Stockdale	...	Kirkland Gaige
Mayme Kelso	...	Cleo Duvene
Robert Gray	...	Bill Holt
Clarence Geldart
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mabel Van Buren	...	Undetermined Role

Storyline

Cinders, a news girl, with a love for books, idealizes as her hero a "Daddy Long-legs," who will someday make her a great lady. Bill Holt, a reporter, is one of her best friends. Walter Crane and Kirkland Gaige observe Cinder's independence as she turns over to a policeman a man who has been annoying her. Later Crane wagers $50,000 that within a year he can transform and improve the girl that one of the men will want to marry her. Crane places her in the care of his aunt, who sends her to a boarding school. At the end of a year she returns home and at once becomes a favorite. Cleo Duvene, an adventuress, demands of Gaige a necklace which he is unable to purchase. Crane meets with reverses and Gaige, anxious to win Cinders, reveals the bet, suggesting she marry him in order that Crane may realize the $100,000 stake. She refuses and goes to her friend. Holt, securing a position as reporter on the paper. Crane accepts the position of assistant cashier in the bank of which Gaige is vice ...

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Plot Keywords:

melodrama | 

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User Reviews

And She Saves Him Right Back

Marie Doro is a newsie with a lot of friends. Elliot Dexter (her real-life husband) is a rich young stockbroker with a taste for speculation. When his friends at luncheon complain about gold-diggers, and how they'll never fall for one, he bets them a total of $50,000 that he can take that gamine sitting across the street reading a copy of DADDY LONG-LEGS and turn her into a girl they'll all want to marry.

So we can see that the set-up of the movie is a bit of a mash-up of Shaw's PYGMALION and Jean Webster's DADDY LONG-LEGS, both of them recent hits on the stage. Yet that only makes up the first half of the film, as situations change thanks to villainous banker Carl Stockdale. The second half is both more conventional and better plotted.

Marie Doro may be forgotten today, but she was a major Broadway star before she became a major movie star for Jesse Lasky. She is lovely and striking; her first shot shows only her hands, gracefully manipulating a pair of dice, and her large, expressive eyes are soon revealed. She is lively and pleasant, and seems very approachable, with funny Oirish foster parents, and her stardom is no mystery. What is a mystery is how she came to be so forgotten. The explanation is that she was 33 when she made this movie, and she retired in 1923.

This movie appears on a two-movie dvd produced by Ed Lorusso and Joe Harvat, with a handsome score by David Drazin. The print is in excellent shape, and the result is a surprisingly engaging movie from more than a century ago.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

None

Release Date:

21 January 1917 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1