Her Defiance
About Her Defiance
Adeline Gabler's brother Theron wants her married to the rich old neighbor Scapin. She loves Frank Warren, from the city. Theron makes her think Frank has left her. Pregnant, she is pushed to the wedding, then shoves Scapin away and drives a buggy to town. Theron and Scapin chase her. Their buggy crashes and Scapin dies. She cleans floors to keep herself and the boy, and is sent to Frank's office. He finds the child. She faces him. A letter he wrote, which she never got, plays on one side of the screen while they talk.
Cast & crew
More about Her Defiance
Cleo Madison and Joe King directed. Madison plays Adeline. Edward Hearn plays Frank. Taylor N. Duncan plays Theron. Willis Marks plays Scapin. Adele Farrington is also billed. Released January 14, 1916. The split-screen matte in the last scene puts the missed letter beside the argument.
Themes
Look
The last talk is matted: Adeline and Frank on one side, the letter and the past on the other.
Technique
A split-screen matte holds the present argument and the missed letter in one frame.
Preservation
A print survives.
Notes
- She does not know, while she is cleaning, that the crash made her a widow.
- The matte is Madison's device for time and distance in the last scene.
- Photoplay's William Henry wrote that Madison made most of the men at Universal City look like debutantes in the way she ran the work.
- King shares the direction. He is not the brother in the story.
Scenes
- She pushes Scapin at the altar and takes the buggy.
- Frank's letter appears beside them while she hears his account.
