Children of Eve
About Children of Eve
Henry Clay Madison, a student and clerk, loves Flossy Wilson, a prostitute on New York's East Side. She reforms and still refuses to marry him. Seventeen years later Henry's nephew Bert, a reformer, loves Fifty-Fifty Mamie, reforms her, and brings her into his work. When Bert falls ill, Henry, now interested only in money, talks Mamie out of marrying him. She takes a job in Henry's canning factory to see how it is run. Children work there. There is no fire escape and only one staircase. A fire kills many of the children and badly injures Mamie. Henry finds her in a tenement, calling for Bert. He brings Bert, sees a photograph of Flossy, and understands that Mamie is his daughter. She dies in Bert's arms. Henry says he will work against child labor.
Cast & crew
More about Children of Eve
John H. Collins wrote and directed it, from his story Katy. Ned Van Buren and John Arnold photographed it. Edison produced the feature. Kleine-Edison Feature Films released it on 10 November 1915. Viola Dana plays Fifty-Fifty Mamie. Robert Conness plays Henry Clay Madison. Robert Walker plays Bert Madison. Nellie Grant plays Flossy Wilson.
Themes
Making
Collins built the last act as a factory fire with one staircase and no fire escape, then a tenement deathbed where Henry reads the photograph of Flossy.
Reviews
Variety, on 12 November 1915, called the plot poorly constructed. Motion Picture News, on 27 November 1915, endorsed the picture and wrote that the tragic ending denied the villain any absolution from the audience.
Look
Ned Van Buren and John Arnold photographed it, including the canning-factory floors and the fire.
Music
Silent, with English titles.
Preservation
Prints are held by the George Eastman House and the Library of Congress.
Notes
- Tom Blake plays Bennie the typ. William Wadsworth plays a peddler. James Harris plays the mill foreman. Warren Cook plays a doctor.
- Variety of 12 November 1915 complained that the plot was poorly constructed.
- Motion Picture News of 27 November 1915 endorsed the film and noted that the tragic ending kept the audience from absolving the villain.
- Prints are at the George Eastman House and the Library of Congress.
- A timed copy runs 1 hour 13 minutes 18 seconds.
Scenes
- Mamie takes a job on Henry's cannery floor and finds children, one staircase, and no fire escape.
- The building burns. Many of the child workers die, and Mamie is carried out badly hurt.
- Henry sees Flossy's photograph and understands Mamie is his daughter as she dies in Bert's arms.
Influenced by
- John H. Collins's story Katy
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Children of Eve (1915).webm)
