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Martin Eden
(1914) United States of America
B&W : [?] Four, Five or Six? reels
Directed by Hobart Bosworth
Cast: Lawrence Peyton [Martin Eden], Viola Barry [Ruth Morse]\, Herbert Rawlinson [Arthur Morse], Rhea Haines [Lizzie Connolly], Ann Ivers [Maria Silva], Ray Myers [Russ Brissenden], Elmer Clifton [the cub reporter], Hobart Bosworth, Myrtle Stedman, Joe Ray
Bosworth, Incorporated, production; distributed on State Rights basis by Bosworth, Incorporated, through the regional film exchanges, American Feature Film Company (Boston), Casino Feature Film Company (Detroit), Famous Players Exchange (Philadelphia), Famous Players Feature Company (Baltimore), Famous Players Film Service, Incorporated (Pittsburgh), Famous Players Star Feature Film Service (Minneapolis), Kansas City Feature Film Company (Kansas City, Missouri), Notable Feature Film Company (Salt Lake City), Progressive Motion Picture Company (San Francisco) and William L. Sherry Feature Film Company, Incorporated (New York, New York). / Produced by Hobart Bosworth. Scenario by Hobart Bosworth, from the novel Martin Eden by Jack London. Cinematography by George W. Hill. / © 22 June 1914 by Bosworth, Incorporated [LU3029]. Released 16 August 1914. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? From a hard-won leadership of a hoodlum gang in Oakland, Cal., from a beach-comber’s life in the South Seas, and from the inferno of the stokehole, Martin Eden, an unlearned sailor, wins his way to fame and fortune. But it is not until great odds have been conquered and much has been sacrificed that the goal is reached. And then it is too late. The odds are ridicule, poverty and lack of education. The great sacrifice, love. A chance meeting, in his hoodlum days, with Arthur Morse, a college man, proves the turning point of his life, for through him he meets Arthur’s sister Ruth. This means the opening of a new world, and in the remaining reels of the play we see Martin’s indomitable spirit and the development of his career. He makes two picturesque friends. One is Russ Brissenden, a poet, who encourages Martin when he sorely needs it, though his taking the latter to the Socialists’ meeting had unfortunate results for the cub reporter as well as for Martin. The other is Maria, his warm-hearted Portuguese landlady, whose wildest flight of imagination, “hoe all da roun’ for da kids,” Martin later is happily able to gratify. A third figure comes now and then into Martin’s life: beautiful, wistful Lizzie Connelly, who loves him and whom he pities but cannot love. As in so many lives, matters are at their lowest ebb before the tide turns. Martin is penniless and without food or warmth. He has had only one sale of a manuscript in the many months of unceasing endeavor. Brissenden is dead. Ruth, losing her faith, has broken their engagement and refuses to see him. Then comes the sudden sweep of success, with publishers clamoring for his work and fame and wealth in his hand. But the tension that sustained him during his days of poverty and struggle breaks. Even Love, in the person of the repentant Ruth, knocks at his door in vain, and he sails for the South Seas, to find again, if he may, his old-time zest for life.
Survival status: Print exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 13 March 2025.
References: Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
Home video: DVD.
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