''Via Wireless'' is a 1915 American silent

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and Film producer, producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940 ...

and starring Bruce McRae,

Gail Kane Gail Kane (born Abigail Kane; July 10, 1885 – February 17, 1966) was an American stage and silent movie actress. Early years Kane was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She attended a private school in Newburgh, New York, but eschewed addit ...

and

Brandon Hurst Brandon Hurst (30 November 1866 – 15 July 1947) was an English stage and film actor. Early life Born in London, England, Hurst studied philology in his youth and began performing in theater in the 1880s. Before he began acting professional ...

. The film was based on a 1908 play of the

same name ''Same Name'' is an American reality television series in which an average person swaps lives with a celebrity of the same first and last name. It premiered on July 24, 2011 on CBS. The series received low ratings, and CBS pulled it after four-ep ...

by Paul Armstrong and

Winchell Smith Winchell Smith (5 April 1871 – 10 June 1933) was an American playwright, known for big hit works such as ''Brewster's Millions'' (1906) and '' Lightnin' '' (1918). Many of his plays were made into movies. He spent freely but left a large fortun ...

and was adapted for the screen by

Ouida Bergère Ouida Bergère (born Eunie Branch; December 14, 1886 – November 29, 1974) was an American screenwriter and actress. Biography Eunie Branch was born in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Stephen W. and Ida Branch, both natives of Tennessee. Her ea ...

. Some location shooting for the film was done in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

Plot

The lead character, Lieutenant Sommers, of the U. S. Navy, comes to work for John Durant who is designing weapons for the military. Sommers designs a gun for the man but the gun explodes during testing, killing two people. Due to this, Sommers is being sent home from France to face an inquiry. The foil of this story is the character Edward Pinckney who has eyes on John Duran's daughter, Frances. Pinckney, jealous of Frances and Sommers relationship, is the one who had sabotaged his gun before it could be tested. Pinckney is eventually killed in Turkish waters and Sommers and Frances Durant marry.

Cast

* Bruce McRae as Lt. Sommers *

as Frances Durant * Henry Weaver as John Durant *

as Edward Pinckney *

Paul McAllister Paul McAllister (June 30, 1875 – July 8, 1955), was an American film actor. He appeared in 37 films between 1913 and 1940. He was born in Brooklyn, New York and died in Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spa ...

as Marsh

Preservation

A complete print of ''Via Wireless'' is held by the

EYE Filmmuseum Eye Filmmuseum is a film archive, museum, and cinema in Amsterdam that preserves and presents both Dutch and foreign films screened in the Netherlands. Location and history Eye Filmmuseum is located in the Overhoeks neighborhood of Amsterdam in ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

References

Bibliography

* Jay Robert Nash, Robert Connelly & Stanley Ralph Ross. ''Motion Picture Guide Silent Film 1910-1936''. Cinebooks, 1988.

External links

* 1915 films 1915 drama films 1910s English-language films American silent feature films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by George Fitzmaurice 1910s American films English-language drama films Films based on works by Paul Armstrong {{1910s-drama-film-stub