The Fires of Youth
About The Fires of Youth
Steel boss Peter Pemberton (Frederick Warde), called Iron Heart by his men, has spent his life making money and wants the boyhood he missed. He goes back to the mill town under the name Peter Brown. A child, Billy (Helen Badgley), takes him walking in the woods. Inside the mill, posing as a worker, he sees the unsafe shop and the men's anger. After an explosion the workers draw straws to kill the owner. Pemberton draws the short straw and goes to the woods to kill himself. Billy's sister (Jeanne Eagels) stops him. He admits he owns the mill, fixes the conditions, and wins the men over.
Cast & crew
More about The Fires of Youth
Émile Chautard directed. Agnes Christine Johnston wrote it. Edwin Thanhouser produced it. Jacques Bizeul photographed it. Pathé Exchange released it on 17 June 1917. Ernest Howard plays Billy's father and Robert Vaughn plays Jim. Wikipedia gives the length as 52 minutes.
Themes
Background
A 1917 mill story: the owner disguises himself as a hand, sees an explosion, and then repairs the shop. That pattern was already common in American labor melodramas.
Making
Chautard, a French stage director working in American studios, made this Thanhouser social drama with Warde and the child player Badgley.
Look
Jacques Bizeul photographed the mill and the woods for Thanhouser.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database lists it as extant. A copy of about 31 minutes also circulates beside the 52-minute release length.
Notes
- Jeanne Eagels, later the stage star of Rain, plays Billy's sister. She is billed on some prints as Jeanne Eagles.
- Helen Badgley, a Thanhouser child player, is Billy.
- Frederick Warde, a stage tragedian, plays the steel boss.
- The Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database lists the film as extant.
- A shorter copy, about 31 minutes, also circulates.
Scenes
- Billy walks the disguised owner through the woods.
- The men draw straws after the explosion, and Pemberton draws the fatal one.
- Billy's sister stops him in the woods, and he admits who owns the mill.
