The Fires of Youth

I found "The Fires of Youth" to be a surprising and interesting film-or, rather, part of a film, as all we may see now is a two-reel abridged version of an originally five-reel production. A complete print doesn't appear to be known to exist. The main surprise for me was the performances by the two leads, Frederick Warde and Jeanne Eagels. Both of these stars came from the theatre, but the acting style in this film is very well adapted to the screen for 1917. This is especially striking in the case of Warde, who carried over some of the worst aspects of projected gesticulation from the stage in his Shakespearian adaptations "Richard III" (1911) and "King Lear" (1916) and somewhat also in "The Vicar of Wakefield" (1917). He was never the worst offender, but in his other available films, it often seemed he was acting for the stage rather than for the screen. In "The Fires of Youth", Warde is delightful and not theatrical-relying more on subtle facial expression rather than broad gesticulation. Eagels, too, appears more comfortable here than in her earlier available picture "The World and the Woman" (1916).

"The Fires of Youth" is also well made and includes some interesting subject matter, and it cohesively blends light moments with its more dramatic parts. Warde's character becomes a benevolent industrialist after befriending a child of a laborer at his factory. While trying to get back in touch with his past youth, he discovers that his employees blame him for poor wages and lax safety at the mill. Now, I'm left only to wonder what the original pacing was like and what's missing. What's left is surely interesting, though.