Battling Jane

Battling Jane is an American silent melodrama film released in 1918. It was directed by Elmer Clifton as a vehicle for Dorothy Gish and included some patriotic overtones. According to the Progressive Silent Film List at SilentEra.com, it is not known whether the film currently survives.

Battling Jane
Directed byElmer Clifton
Written byArnold Bernot
StarringDorothy Gish
May Hall
Katherine MacDonald
CinematographyKarl Brown
Production
company
New Art Film Company
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • September 29, 1918 (1918-09-29)
Running time
5 reels, 4458 feet
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent (English intertitles)

Plot

Jane, a waitress at a small town Maine hotel, assumes guardianship of a baby whose mother has died. The baby's rakish father, Dr. Sheldon, conspires to steal prize money won by Jane after she enters the child in a baby show. Jane manages to hold the doctor and his accomplice at bay until help arrives, then uses the prize money to help the war effort by purchasing Liberty Bonds and donating the rest to the Red Cross.[1]

Cast

Release

The film was released in the United States in September, 1918, and in Canada shortly before the new year. In some venues it was accompanied by the comedy film The Goat with Fred Stone.[2] It would be one of the most financially successful films made by Gish for Paramount.[3]

Battling Jane received good reviews for its performances and its scenario: "(T)hough by turns pure comedy and pure melodrama, (it) is logically and consistently told."[4] A reviewer for the Toronto World thought Dorothy Gish "a marvel of cleverness... as charming as in any of her previous parts. Director Elmer Clifton leaves nothing to be desired, either in point of acting or investiture. The support is unusually capable." [5] The Evening Post of Wellington, New Zealand, found the lead role "quaint"; nonetheless it praised both the "cleverly depicted" story and the leading lady: "There are hundreds of Janes in the world, no doubt... Ms. Gish portrays the character realistically."[6]

The film played at the Strand Theatre in Christchurch, New Zealand in June, 1919.[7]

Like many American films of the time, Battling Jane was subject to cuts by city and state film censorship boards. For example, the Chicago Board of Censors required a cut, in Reel 2. of the knifing of a man in Jane's room and, in Reel 5, the last scene of man robbing the safe.[8]

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See also

References
  1. "Battling Jane Full Synopsis". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
  2. Meriden Daily Journal: 5. November 19, 1918. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. Golden, Eve. Golden Images: 41 Essays on Silent Film Stars. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 40.
  4. Lewistown Morning Tribune: 8. April 23, 1919. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. Toronto World: 10. December 28, 1918. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. Wellington Evening Post: 9. May 31, 1919. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. Dorothy Gish in "Battling Jane" which will be screened at the Strand to-night. The Star. Issue 12673. 21 June 1919. p 3. Retrieved 15 January 2016
  8. "Official Cut-Outs by the Chicago Board of Censors". Exhibitors Herald. New York City: Exhibitors Herald Company. 7 (18): 43. October 26, 1918.
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