"Victorine" is one of the most charming American two reel films from the mid-teens that I have had a chance to see. It has some features in common with the Griffith Biographs, especially its careful technique and the focus on living a simple life.
Dorothy Gish plays Victorine, a waitress in a cheap restaurant who yearns for a glamorous job. A carnival sideshow man (Ralph Lewis) finds Victorine and offers to put her in his knife throwing act. Victorine accepts the offer, but complications result when she discovers that the knife thrower is a heavy drinker. I could give away more of the details, but I don't want to spoil it. Suffice it to say, Victorine gets out of show business and settles for a happy life with the sideshow's financial backer (William Hinckley).
The film is nicely crafted, but it has a few moments of unconvincing editing. The knife throwing is achieved by filming a close shot of Ralph Lewis tossing a knife and then cutting to a close view of Dorothy Gish with a knife already stuck in a board. The producers would have done better by getting a real knife thrower.
Otherwise, the film is very nicely made. The final image of Gish and Hinckley embracing is quite memorable, and the film is smoothly made throughout. I recommend it as an excellent example of short film-making.
Dorothy Gish plays Victorine, a waitress in a cheap restaurant who yearns for a glamorous job. A carnival sideshow man (Ralph Lewis) finds Victorine and offers to put her in his knife throwing act. Victorine accepts the offer, but complications result when she discovers that the knife thrower is a heavy drinker. I could give away more of the details, but I don't want to spoil it. Suffice it to say, Victorine gets out of show business and settles for a happy life with the sideshow's financial backer (William Hinckley).
The film is nicely crafted, but it has a few moments of unconvincing editing. The knife throwing is achieved by filming a close shot of Ralph Lewis tossing a knife and then cutting to a close view of Dorothy Gish with a knife already stuck in a board. The producers would have done better by getting a real knife thrower.
Otherwise, the film is very nicely made. The final image of Gish and Hinckley embracing is quite memorable, and the film is smoothly made throughout. I recommend it as an excellent example of short film-making.
