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Marta of the Lowlands
(1914) United States of America
B&W : Five reels
Directed by J. Searle Dawley
Cast: Bertha Kalich [Marta], Wellington A. Playter [Manelich], Hal Clarendon [Sebastien], Lillian Kalich [Muri], Frank Holland [Sebastien’s servant], George Moss [a villager]
Famous Players Film Company production; distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation. / From the play Terra baixa by Ángel Guimerá. Cinematography by Henry Lyman Broening (H. Lyman Broening). Presented by Daniel Frohman. / Released 5 October 1914. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / Some location cinematography was taken in Cuba. Bertha Kalich’s film debut.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Marta is a beggar child, who is adopted by Sebastien, the wealthy landowner. Sebastien makes Marta his victim. He wishes to marry a wealthy woman, but at the same time retain his influence over Marta. He therefore arranges through Tomas, the hermit, to marry her to Manelich, a simple, untutored shepherd living in the mountains, a rough child of nature who kills wolves with his bare hands and knows naught of guile and deceit. The wedding is performed, Manelich being under the impression that Marta loves him, and being truly in love with her. Later he learns he has been tricked, while Marta, who had at first believed that Manelich had been bought with the master’s gold to become her husband, finds her conclusion wrong, the honesty of his love compelling her own. Then come developments which make the drama one of the most passionate, intense, trenchant character studies ever created. Marta is a patient sufferer, a tragic figure indeed, as she bravely endures all the cruelty and indignities that are thrust upon her by the ruthless “master.” We witness the poignancy of her grief, the restraint and the anguish of the oppressed woman, and her movements among the treacherous characters of her environment.
Synopsis: Synopsis available in AFI-F1 n. F1.2850.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Cuba
Listing updated: 10 December 2024.
References: AFI-F1 n. F1.2850; Slide-Aspects p. 44; Tarbox-Lost p. 205 : Website-IMDb.
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