The Finger of Justice
About The Finger of Justice
Political boss William Randall lets vice run in his city and takes the profits. Minister Noel Delaney, with his college sweetheart Mary, opens a fight against the system. A thug named Flip lures Randall's daughter Betty into a dive without knowing who she is. Mary helps Delaney find her. Randall fights Flip and is killed. The city turns on the machine, and Delaney and Mary bring it down. The story follows the Rev. Paul Smith's campaign against the Barbary Coast in San Francisco.
Cast & crew
More about The Finger of Justice
Louis William Chaudet directed this seven-reel drama for the Rev. Paul Smith. Arrow Film Corporation released it on a state-rights basis. Wikipedia credits the scenario to Grace Sanderson Michie; Silent Era lists Grace Marbury Sanderson. It premiered on 21 July 1918 in Washington, D.C., and in Seattle. Mayor Raymond Pullman endorsed the Washington opening, and footage of Seattle mayor Ole Hanson greeting Smith ran as a prologue in the Pacific Northwest.
Themes
Background
The Barbary Coast was San Francisco's vice district. Smith's drive to close the red-light houses is the real campaign behind the fictional boss and the minister.
Making
Smith, a San Francisco minister, put his own Barbary Coast campaign on screen and appeared in the Seattle prologue beside Mayor Hanson.
Reviews
Licenses commissioner Gilchrist blocked the New York premiere as immoral. The Maryland State Board of Censors banned the film. A later court action required Gilchrist to justify the suppression.
Look
Lenwood Abbott shot the seven reels in black and white on 35mm at 1.33:1.
Preservation
Silent Era records a surviving 16mm reduction positive. A copy is on Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Crane Wilbur plays Noel Delaney, Henry A. Barrows (Harry Barrows) plays William Randall, Mae Gaston plays Mary, and Beulah Booker plays Betty Randall.
- John Oaker is Flip. Jane O'Rourke is Yvonne, Leota Lorraine is Edith, Velma Whitman is Louise Bradley, Jean Hathaway is Mrs. Bradley, and Jack Lott is Jack Randall.
- The AFI Catalog says the plot uses incidents from Smith's anti-vice work, and that one source credits Smith himself with the scenario.
- AFI notes sponsorship by Smith's church, several newspapers, and the Church of Strangers in New York.
- The film is in the public domain in the United States. Silent Era notes a DVD edition without naming the label.
Scenes
- Flip takes Betty Randall into a dive without knowing she is the boss's daughter.
- Randall fights Flip there and is killed.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (The Finger of Justice)