The Master Passion

There are many positive qualities to be found in "The Master Passion," a five-reel drama produced by Edison for release by K-E-S- E on January 22, enough positive qualities to overbalance the negative qualities and make of the picture an acceptable offering. Chief of the positive qualities is the acting of the cast headed by Mabel Trunnelle and Robert Conness. The leads acquit themselves in a manner that leaves no doubt as to their ability, and several times by their work strengthen weak spots in the story. They are given excellent support by Richard Tucker, Helen Strickland, Bigelow Cooper, Olive Wright, A. Lincoln, Raymond McKee, William Wadsworth and Ann Leonard. Other decidedly positive qualities are the exteriors and the direction, which was done by Richard Ridgely. The story contains several strong situations, but some of them have been obtained at a cost in plausibility that hardly compensates for their strength. For instance, we are asked to believe that a woman who deep in her heart loves her husband would forsake his home and her baby's arms for the doubtful promises of a vocal instructor who tells her that fame will be hers if she goes to Paris with him; and we are further asked to believe that a man who is too busy to be in the company of his wife all the time would repeatedly ask a man friend to keep his wife from becoming lonesome. Despite the inconsistencies, however, the story as a whole interests, and quite a number of new and original ideas have been used. The story tells of a woman whose ambitions lead her first to jilt a poor sweetheart, and later to desert her home for fame in the opera. When she has the world at her feet, she learns that what she has gained is as nothing, that the husband and the baby she gave up are what really count. Photography and lighting are of the best. The snow exteriors are good, as are those representing the Riviera in Southern France. The latter were photographed in Cuba. – The Moving Picture World, January 20, 1917