User Reviews

The crying need in the moving picture industry is the proper classification of its product, such as exists in the clothing business, the grocery business, and existed i« the spoken drama ten years ago, when there were three distinct grades of theaters throughout the land, charging distinct prices of admission, and that which was an excellent article for the money at one theater and satisfied its patrons, would have proved a different proposition at a higher grade of house. If the same conditions existed in the moving pictures, three distinct grades of houses catering to as many separate grades of intelligence, the task of reviewing photoplays would be a much simpler matter. There are any number of good but artless souls that care nothing for the higher drama, to see life as it really exists. To hold their attention the playwright must use broad strokes, without shading, and make his appeal solely to the emotions. The complex blending of the good and the bad that constitutes the nature of the average human being is too subtle for their understanding. The dramatist must so divide the goats from the lambs among his characters that no analysis is necessary to determine the truth or falsity of their actions; one set representing incarnate virtue, the other incarnate vice. Of this school were the writings of Theodore Kramer and Owen Davis, in the days when the melodrama was king and Al Woods shared the profits. Mary Murillo, the author of "Sister Against Sister," the five-reel Fox photoplay starring Virginia Pearson, is a legitimate successor to the pair of prolific playwrights just mentioned. Her method of depicting humanity is as obvious as theirs and follows the same line of construction. She even employs the same comic relief, the stout cook, in her latest drama, checking her flow of tears upon a batch of bread dough after she has been upset and sprawled on the kitchen floor. All of which belongs to this grade of playmaking, and stamps "Sister Against Sister" as a worthy specimen of its particular class. The production has not been slighted in any department, and the cast truthfully reflects the spirit of the story and its intellectual requirements. Virginia Pearson acts two sisters, one a siren, the other a saint. She follows faithfully the author's conception of both characters. The same may be written of the work of Walter Law, Irving Cummings, Maud Hill and the other members of the cast. James Vincent directed the picture. - The Moving Picture World, March 24, 1917

Pre-teen twins played by "Little" Katherine Lee (as little Anne & little Katherine) are separated when their parents split up. They grow up to be full-figured Virginia Pearson (as big Anne & big Katherine). Under her mother's influence, Ms. Pearson's "Anne" becomes a respectable lady, but daddy's malnurturing makes Pearson's "Katherine" a palpable vamp. It's "Sister Against Sister" when the women line up alongside their natural mates. The men involved are nice Irving Cummings (as Dunsmore) and nasty Walter Law (as Huxley), and both are running for governor. You can expect murder and mistaken identity to become big problems for both Pearsons...

**** Sister Against Sister (3/4/17) James Vincent ~ Virginia Pearson, Irving Cummings, Walter Law, Jane Lee