A Perilous Cargo

A not very effectively made melodramatic picture, fabricated to use an old hulk of a ship, high and dry on the rocks, which at the climax is shattered by dynamite. If the story gives excitement, and it does at certain moments, it is by contagion, not by suggestion; by the running about and gesticulating of the players, and never by the convincing development of a dramatic situation. The fact that too many things in it give the producer's expedients away makes it seem very artificial. We had to see it with three audiences; in one it was laughed at; in the others, while there were some who seemed to be watching closely, some plainly didn't. The producer had two ships, and they were not enough alike. We can't praise the writer of the script, either; but we cannot pass without praising the players; it is remarkable that they accomplished so much. Walter Edwin and Herbert Prior, but especially the former, who has the lead, do fine work. John Sturgeon, as the lighthouse keeper, and Edna Flugrath. as his daughter, also do well. William Bechtel and Richard Ridgely. the conspirators, had ungrateful roles and seemed a bit too melodramatic; they had to do something. The photography is fair and some of the scenes are very interesting. - The Moving Picture World, February 15, 1913