Led Astray (1909) User Reviews

The Vitagraph Company should be a little more attentive to details.

[deickemeyer · 28 November 2014]

The Vitagraph Company have given a very graphic reproduction of the well-known melodrama, "East Lynne," in this film. The play is so well known that it requires no detailed explanation to make it plain, but one must commend the actors, who have made "East Lynne" live upon the screen. And these actors are not the barnstorming sort who go roving about the country presenting "East Lynne" to audiences in small towns. They are finished players, and the popular old story assumes an added interest from its presentation by them. The acting of Isabel is perhaps the best, though Barbara is good, although Carlisle is not so successful in developing his part. The whole picture is pleasing, if a drama which ends with death and gloom can be called pleasing. But perhaps one should not criticise a play which has appealed to thousands of people of every type and station for many years and never fails to bring the tears. If the play, as it is commonly shown, is so powerful, surely this motion picture, with every individual a capable and well-trained actor, ought to be even more interesting, and the play should receive a fresh lease of life and interest yet other thousands who have never seen it. The Vitagraph Company should be a little more attentive to details. The wind blew so strong in a supposed "interior" that the draperies stood out straight and the eagle trademark fluttered down from the wall. Succeeding titles such as "After Five Years," or "After Ten Years," we would expect to see some facial change in the actors, or at least a different suit of clothes. – The Moving Picture World, July 10, 1909