''The Menace to Carlotta'' is a 1914 American
silent short drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...
directed by
Allan Dwan and featuring
Pauline Bush,
William C. Dowlan,
Murdock MacQuarrie and
Lon Chaney
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...
. It was banned by the censor of
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
on March 19, 1914. The film is now considered
lost.
Chaney also wrote the film's scenario (his first known screenwriting credit). The film's original working title was ''Carlotta, the Bead Stringer''.
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Plot
Carlotta's fiancé Giovanni Bartholdi (Chaney) loses his money gambling with a shady character called "The Vulture" and, now penniless, moves in with Carlotta and her father and brother Tony. The Vulture talks Giovanni into luring Carlotta to a lonely dive one night, where she is to be kidnapped and sold into the white slave trade. She is saved however by her father and brother.
Cast
* Lon Chaney
Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...
as Giovanni Bartholdi
* Pauline Bush as Carlotta
* William C. Dowlan as Carlotta's brother, Tony
* Murdock MacQuarrie as Carlotta's father
* John Burton as The Vulture
Reception
"Motion Picture News" wrote "The fight between Giovanni and the old father is very realistic, almost too much so."[ "Moving Picture World" wrote ""A one-reel (sic) offering by Lou (sic) Chaney, who plays the villain's part...The Italian characterizations are good and the setting's in keeping...The photography is fair."] (Note the review refers to the film as a "one-reel offering", while reference sources list it as two reels in length. The same reviewer however also misspelled Chaney's first name).
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menace to Carlotta, The
1914 films
1914 drama films
1914 short films
Silent American drama films
American silent short films
American black-and-white films
Films directed by Allan Dwan
Lost American films
Universal Pictures short films
1914 lost films
Lost drama films
1910s American films