The Great Divide
About The Great Divide
Ruth Jordan leaves Milford Corners, Massachusetts, with her brother Phil, his wife Polly, and Dr. Winthrop Newbury, and they try to work desert land in Arizona left by their father. Alone in the shack, Ruth is threatened by three drunken men, Stephen Ghent among them. She asks Ghent to protect her. He kills one companion in a duel, buys off Pedro with a string of nuggets, and takes her to a preacher. The marriage is supposed to be in name only. Drunk, Ghent breaks that promise. Ruth sells baskets to buy her freedom. Pedro attacks her; she throws him from a cliff and recovers the necklace. A landslide starts as she climbs, and Ghent pulls her clear.
Cast & crew
More about The Great Divide
Edgar Lewis directed for the Lubin Manufacturing Company. Siegmund Lubin produced. Anthony Paul Kelly wrote the scenario from William Vaughn Moody's play The Great Divide, which opened in New York on 3 October 1906. Edward C. Earle photographed it. V-L-S-E released the five-reel picture on 20 December 1915.
Themes
Making
Lubin was still making features in 1915. This one is a five-reel Western melodrama taken straight from a Broadway play.
Look
Edward C. Earle shot the five reels, including the cliff and the landslide.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
A complete print survives at the British Film Institute.
Notes
- Ethel Clayton plays Ruth. House Peters plays Stephen Ghent.
- Marie Sterling is Mrs. Jordan. Hayden Stevenson is Phil. Mary Moore is Phil's wife.
- Warner Richmond plays Dr. Newbury. Ferdinand O'Beck is Dutch. Ray Chamberlin is Pedro.
- Moody’s play is a different property from the later films that reused the title.
- A complete print is at the British Film Institute.
Scenes
- Ghent duels one of the drunks and pays Pedro with nuggets so he can take Ruth to a preacher.
- Ruth throws Pedro off the cliff and climbs back into a landslide, where Ghent reaches her.
Influenced by
- The Great Divide (play, 1906)