''Lady Babbie'' is a lost 1913 American silent drama film produced by the United States division of the French film company Eclair. The

featurette In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

was written and directed by

Oscar A. C. Lund Oscar Augustus Constantine Lund (May 21, 1885 – May 2, 1963) was a Swedish-born silent film actor, screenwriter and director of the American and Swedish motion picture industry. Early life Oscar A. C. Lund was born May 21, 1885, in Gothenburg, ...

, a native of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, who also costarred in the three-reeler opposite

Barbara Tennant Barbara Tennant (19 May 1892 – 18 March 1982) was an English actress. She appeared in over a hundred silent films between 1912 and 1928. Early life Barbara Tennant was born in London, and began performing there. She moved to North America a ...

as Lady Babbie. That role was loosely based on a popular character originally performed by American actress

Maude Adams Maude Ewing Adams Kiskadden (November 11, 1872 – July 17, 1953), known professionally as Maude Adams, was an American actress and stage designer who achieved her greatest success as the character Peter Pan, first playing the role in the 190 ...

in the 1897 Broadway production ''The Little Minister'', a play adapted from the 1891 novel of the same title by Scottish writer

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

."The Little Minister"
1897-1898,

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

(IBDB), The Broadway League, New York, N.Y. Retrieved February 14, 2020. Filming for this motion picture was done at Eclair's studio facilities in

Fort Lee, New Jersey Fort Lee is a Borough (New Jersey), borough at the eastern border of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, situated along the Hudson River atop The Palisades (Hudson River), The Palisades. As of the 2020 Uni ...

and on location at Lake George, New York."Eclair Company At Lake George"
''The

Motion Picture News The ''Motion Picture News'' was an American film industry trade paper published from 1913 to 1930. History The publication was created through the 1913 merger of the ''Moving Picture News'' founded in 1908 and ''The Exhibitors' Times'', founde ...

'' (New York, N.Y.), November 22, 1913, p. 30. Internet Archive. Retrieved February 12, 2020. No full copies or partial reels of this "photoplay" are preserved in film archives in either the United States, Canada, or Europe.No copies of the film are among the holdings of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

, the UCLA Film Archives, the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

's moving-images collection, the

George Eastman Museum The George Eastman Museum, also referred to as George Eastman House and the International Museum of Photography and Film, is a photography museum in Rochester, New York. Opened to the public in 1949, is the oldest museum dedicated to photography ...

, the

Cinémathèque québécoise The Cinémathèque québécoise () is a film conservatory in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its purpose is to preserve, document, film, and television footage and related documents and artifacts for future use by the public. The Cinémathèque's coll ...

, the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

(BFI), or in othe
European film repositories (European Film Gateway)
Searches in the cited data bases were performed February 11–12, 2020. ''Lady Babbie'' is therefore presumed to be a lost film. All of the featurette's master negatives and undistributed print copies were most likely consumed in the fire that destroyed Eclair's negative department and the contents of its film storage vaults in Fort Lee on March 19, 1914, just a few months after this production's release."FILM FACTORY BURNS WITH $300,000 LOSS: Many Valuable Reels Destroyed in Eclair Company's Fort Lee Plant", ''The New York Times'', March 20, 1914, p. 1. The modern online transcription by ''The New York Times'' of its 1914 news item cites the total fire losses at "$800,000" in the heading, which is incorrect. The loss printed in the original heading is "$300,000", a figure repeated in the body of the newspaper's own report.

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for l ...

Historical Newspapers (

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), database subscription,

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

Plot

The film's storyline was set in the

colonial period Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas *Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Coloni ...

of the United States in the early 1770s. Reviews and plot summaries of the featurette published in late 1913 and 1914 describe the portrayal of a romance set within a province marked by public opposition to the local government. The story involves Lord Primton (Frederick C. Truesdell), an important landowner who lives on his estate with his widowed sister (Julia Stewart) and her niece, Lady Babbie (Barbara Tennant). The nobleman despises a new, exorbitant tax levied on citizens by Governor Dunmore. To gather allies to discuss a plan of action against the tax, Primton invites his friends to a lawn party, hoping such a common social event will not arouse the suspicions of government officials. At the party a young British officer, Lieutenant Byron, meets Lady Babbie and falls immediately and deeply in love with the beautiful woman. Their obvious attraction for one another is resented by her

fiancé An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''f ...

, who is an army officer as well. Rising jealousies soon prompt the fiancé to challenge Byron to a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people with matched weapons. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and later the small sword), but beginning in ...

. When Babbie learns of the challenge, which is to take place at midnight at a nearby crossroads, she tries to stop it. She disguises herself in men's clothing, goes to Byron, and pleads with him not to fight. Her fiancé finds them together again, becomes furious, and draws his sword. Byron counters with his own sword, and in the ensuing clash he kills the fellow officer. While the romancing of Lady Babbie and the deadly confrontation were occurring, Lord Primton sent his son to England to seek the king's assistance in overturning the unfair tax and to investigate the province's corrupt administration. Governor Dunmore becomes aware of those efforts, so he plots to destroy the elder Primton. After Byron is arrested for murder and sentenced to be hung, Dunmore offers him a chance to avoid execution if he agrees to find Primton, now in hiding, and bring him alive to the governor's office. The lieutenant agrees, although he is still unaware that Primton is related to Lady Babbie. Byron now searches for months but cannot locate the fugitive. He returns again to Primton's largely deserted estate, where Lady Babbie continues to reside. She entertains him there, but when she discovers Byron searching a room for clues to Primton's whereabouts, she accuses him of spying for the governor. Angered, she physically assaults Byron, but he quickly departs before either he or she is injured. Primton's son now arrives from his voyage with letters of support and instructions from the king. Dunmore now concedes, admitting defeat. Meanwhile, Byron is being held in the provincial prison, where preparations are under way to hang him after he failed in his mission for Dunmore. Lady Babbie finally learns why Byron was compelled to search for Lord Primton, and she rushes to the prison with orders to halt the execution and to pardon and release the soldier. Byron is saved, and she announces that they can now be married. The story ends with the happy couple "wrapped in love's embrace."

Cast

*Barbara Tennant as Lady Babbie *Oscar A. C. Lund as Lieutenant Byron *Frederick C. Truesdell as Lord Primton *Louis R. Grisel as Governor Dumore *Julia Stuart as Lord Primton's sister *Unidentified actor as Lady Babbie's fiancé *Unidentified actor as Lord Primton's son

Production

O. A. C. Lund's decisions to write a screenplay and then direct a film titled ''Lady Babbie'' proved timely in 1913, for other productions in the United States featuring the character were being presented in both stage revivals and on screen. The theatrical role of "Lady Babbie" dates to 1897, to the long-running Broadway play ''The Little Minister'', a production based on the 1891 novel of the same title by Scottish novelist and playwright

. That Broadway adaptation transformed the novel into a comedy, and it starred legendary American actress

, whose 300 performances as Lady Babbie during the 1897-1898 season popularized the character to "packed houses". Over the years Adams' stage success inspired many additional productions of Barrie's work. In January 1913, yet another adaptation of ''The Little Minister'' opened, although this time as a motion picture produced by

Vitagraph Studios Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

. Also between 1912 and 1914, revivals of the play showcasing Lady Babbie were being presented in London and across the United States on stages in Chicago, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Washington, D.C., and in many other cities. Lund's ''Lady Babbie'', however, reflected in no way the content of ''The Little Minister'', neither in its portrayal of "the capricious heroine" Lady Babbie in the play ''The Little Minister'' nor in the geographical and chronological settings in which Barrie's novel is set, in a remote village in Scotland in the 1840s. It therefore appears that Lund simply hoped his film could profit, at least in part, from the name recognition, literary history, and long-standing popularity of stage productions associated with the title he applied to his script or "

scenario In the performing arts, a scenario (, ; ; from Italian , "that which is pinned to the scenery") is a synoptical collage of an event or series of actions and events. In the ''commedia dell'arte'', it was an outline of entrances, exits, and actio ...

". Filming of Eclair's ''Lady Babbie'' was done in September and early October 1913, with interior scenes shot at the company's two-year-old studio facilities in Fort Lee, New Jersey and most outdoor footage taken on location at Lake George, New York. Given that location's 200-mile distance from Fort Lee, Eclair sought to save production time and expenses by combining needed camerawork in a single outing and shooting scenes at Lake George for "several scenarios" or different upcoming films described to be "English and Colonial in character". Those films, according to a 1913 news item in ''The

'', included scenes with Barbara Tennant, O. A. C. Lund, Julia Stewart, and various other "beautiful, quaintly gowned young women and handsome young men, garbed in costumes of bold sir knights and the scarlet coated uniforms of the English army in Colonial days."

Release and reception

The film's copyright registration (LU1410) is dated October 17, 1913 with release charts in

trade publications A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this a ...

showing that the featurette was released on November 12, less than a month after its registration."Lady Babbie"
copyright listing, ''Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures, 1912-1939''. Washington. D.C.: Library of Congress, 1951, p. 452. Internet Archive. Retrieved February 11, 2020. Available copies of trade publications and daily newspapers from late 1913 and 1914 carry few reviews of the film. The New York-based trade journal ''

The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. ...

'' provides its reaction to the film in the publication's November 22, 1913 issue. While giving ''Lady Babbie'' high marks for its performances, costumes, and cinematography, the journal found the release's overall screenplay somewhat muddled:Most newspapers made only brief announcements about screenings of the Eclair release at their local theaters. In Florida in its January 27, 1914 edition, the ''St. Peterburg Daily Times'' in a short notice simply informs its readers about the film offerings that night at the "Airdome" cinema: "Barbara Tenent in Lady Babbie 3 reels, and 3 other strong reels, 6 reels in all; regular prices 5c and 10c." ''

The Arizona Republic ''The Arizona Republic'' is an American daily newspaper published in Phoenix. Circulated throughout Arizona, it is the state's largest newspaper. Since 2000, it has been owned by the Gannett newspaper chain. History Early years The newspap ...

an'' in Phoenix was one of the newspapers that assessed the film. "It is seldom", writes the paper's anonymous reviewer in May 1914, "that any moving picture house is accorded the opportunity to present a photo-play equal to 'Lady Babbie,' the Eclair three-reel drama, featured today at the Regale theater"."Amusements: A Great Bill / The Regale", ''The Arizona Republican'' (Phoenix), May 8, 1914, p. A5. ProQuest. The reviewer adds, "It is a romantic, colonial play, a costume production, and for richness, accuracy of settings and costuming and romantic atmosphere is superior to anything ever done by the Universal-Eclair company.

"Lost" film status

No copies of the featurette are preserved in major film archives in either the United States, Canada, or Europe. All the undistributed print copies, master negatives, and other footage of ''Lady Babbie'' were very likely among the catastrophic losses suffered by Eclair when a fire destroyed the company's entire negative department and storage vaults in Fort Lee on March 19, 1914, just four months after the three-reeler's release. The fate of copies distributed to theaters prior to the fire is also unknown. It is probable that any footage from used reels that were returned to Eclair disintegrated over time like the vast majority of motion pictures produced in the silent era, falling victim to the highly unstable

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula . salt (chemistry), Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are solubility, soluble in wa ...

-based film stock on which they were printed.No copy in the Library of Congress film archives
"American Silent Feature Film: Database From the report 'The Survival of American Silent Feature Films: 1912-1929'"
searchable database that includes nearly 11,000 titles in both complete and partial states. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Retrieved February 12, 2020. The film's United States copyright registration can be found in a reference published by the Library of Congress in 1951, the ''Catalog of Copyright Entries: Motion Pictures, 19121939'', which contains information relating to over 51,000 shorts, feature films, and newsreels produced during the cited period. The entry for ''Lady Babbie'' shows that among the documentation submitted in 1913 by Eclair for its copyright were 94 photographic images that were printed from the featurette's master negatives.

References and notes

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0375904, title=Lady Babbie 1913 films 1913 drama films Silent American drama films American silent feature films American black-and-white films Films shot in Fort Lee, New Jersey Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York (state) Lost American drama films 1913 lost films Films directed by Oscar A. C. Lund 1910s American films Films set in the Thirteen Colonies 1910s English-language films English-language drama films