The Empress

Painter William Morse celebrates the sale of his work, "The Empress", with a holiday in the country. He invites his model, Doris Kenyon, and the hotel owner snaps a photo of them smiling. But Morse is a cad, and forces his way into Miss Kenyon's room. She leaves. Some time later, she is married to Holbrook Blinn, and they are happy with their child. But Morse continues his trifling ways with his models, and the hotel owner has blackmail on his mind.

Alice Guy's late feature is a bit difficult to follow, even with a synopsis; there are no titles. Even so, the story tracks pretty well, even if the acting is a bit broad. Miss Guy has kept up with movie techniques. Even though she inserts a few animal shots to make parallels with human behavior, the camera under John Haas is not just set-up-the-shot-and-forget-it. The camera pans slightly to maintain composition and change the emphasis of what the audience sees.