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Mother Love
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel / [?] 980 or 989? feet
Directed by Harry Solter
Cast: Florence Lawrence, King Baggot
Independent Moving Pictures Company, Incorporated, production; distributed by Independent Moving Pictures Company, Incorporated [IMP]. / Produced by Carl Laemmle. / Released 7 March 1910. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 12 March 1910, page ?] A happy young couple are entertaining a houseful of visitors — it is the christening of their first baby. The child falls ill and the parents become anxious when the heroic measures of the physician show no results. The child sinks, sinks, sinks, until at last, with the couple standing over the little bed, the babe steps softly into the domain of angels, closing its eyes in the slumber that knows no awakening. The mother is stupefied when the doctor drops his hand significantly, and does not seem to realize her bereavement. Her hands grip the air tensely, spasmodically — her eyes bulge in their sockets — she swoons; and when she is revived the horrible truth is only too evident — her mentality has collapsed. She shrinks in terror from her husband, whom she fails utterly to recognize. He pleads with her, but the mystic forces, shattered, will not respond. He has suddenly become a stranger to her! She is not a violent maniac; she seems entirely rational only in that she fails to remember that the man who is trying to thrust himself upon her is her husband, and that she resents his advances in disdain; he, heartbroken, realizes that he is wooing his wife a second time as ardently as he did before their marriage. She has entirely forgotten her husband, and shows a decided preference for a mutual friend. But the friend tries in every way, on behalf of the husband, to bring her to a realization; it is useless, for as soon as she sees her husband her manner becomes cold, formal, imperious. The physician who is attending her happens to have a patient, a pauper woman, who dies leaving a babe that strongly resembles the child whose death wrecked the mother’s mind. He brings the husband to the squalid home; he takes the wee survivor in his arms — true, there is a striking resemblance! The physician unfolds a plan. We next see the home of the couple being decorated exactly as it was when their baby was christened. The other baby is placed in a crib where the bereaved mother sees it and her disordered mentality conforms itself to the deception. She is asked to prepare for the christening and she gaily dresses the child accordingly. Then the ceremony is again enacted, exact in every detail and incident as in the original ceremony. All watch her intently. The change comes gradually — slowly — steadily — surely. She looks about her — seems dazed — seems to understand — her mind begins to remember; she looks about her, gazes on her sorrowing husband; he holds out his arms and whispers, “My wife!” It is complete. Her mental faculties reorganize themselves — she controls them; her brain clears, and as she falls into her husband’s arms, the pseudo christening marks the restoration.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 12 March 1910, page ?] If the “Imp” continues to give us pictures of the kind and quality of Mother Love, the independent exhibitors will not lack headliners for their programs. While the theme is not new, it is one which presents the opportunity for powerful dramatic effect and calls for the best efforts of the actors. And in all fairness to the “Imp” performers it must be said that they have made the most of their opportunity. Mother Love is a film that brings honor to the producer and it will bring dollars to the exhibitor. Seldom, if ever, have we seen a similar subject better handled. A young mother loses her reason through the death of her child and regains it when her husband replaces it with an adopted baby of strong resemblance. The attending circumstances are skillfully worked out and the film received the breathless attention and applause of the house in which we saw it.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 8 September 2023.
References: Robinson-Palace p. 160; Webb-Hollywood p. 180 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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