User Reviews

In writing "The Price of Silence," the author has made use of a theme that will appeal strongly to many followers of the screen. The evils of child labor in factories is the foundation of the story by William Piggott, which the Fox Film Corporation has produced with William Farnum in the principal character. Up to the point where Senator Deering must choose between defeating the bill abolishing the evil of child slavery or see the woman he loves disgraced through an act of her father's, the drama is human, logical and well put together. With the decision of the Senator to let his heart outweigh his conscience by placing the happiness of one being against the welfare and safety of thousands of helpless children, Deering belies his own character and becomes a weak sentimentalist. Neither does he justify his act by confession that he has committed a great wrong, and then, going to prison rather than let the world know that Judge Vernon, the father of the woman he is shielding, was a thief. Like Sydney Carton in "The Tale of Two Cities," he makes his sacrifice for the wife of another; but Carton went to the guillotine in order to save his rival from the same fate, and only good could come from his action. Deering, a strong man in every way, keenly alive to the wide consequences of his selfish act, is guilty of moral cowardice, and nothing but a false conception of life and its duties will applaud his determination. The production has been directed with excellent results by Frank Lloyd. The scenes among the factory workers are painted in broad but telling strokes, and are well contrasted with the homes and habits of the people of wealth. William Farnum plays Deering in a convincing manner, and Vivian Rich has the necessary womanliness and refinement for Grace Vernon. Young Gordon Griffith is a boy actor of much natural ability, and the efforts of Frank Clark, Brooklyn Kellar, Charles Clary and Ray Hanford are a distinct gain for the play. – The Moving Picture World, January 20, 1917