Cheerful Givers Explained

Cheerful Givers
Director:	Paul Powell
Starring:	Bessie Love Kenneth Harlan
Cinematography:	John W. Leezer^[1]
Studio:	Fine Arts Film Company
Distributor:	Triangle Film Corporation
Runtime:	5 reels^[2]
Country:	United States
Language:	Silent (English intertitles)

Cheerful Givers is a 1917 American silent comedy-drama film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. The film stars Bessie Love and Kenneth Harlan.^[3]

The film is presumed lost.

Plot

In order to save her father's orphanage, Judy (Love) answers a request to have the "eldest boy" work in the kitchen of a rich, miserly woman. She disguises herself as a boy, and, there, she crosses paths with the woman's son Horace (Harlan), whom she mistrusts, but who realizes that she is a girl and who falls in love with her. Judy thwarts the son's plans to steal from his mother's safe. The son realizes his error, and Judy falls in love with him.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

Reception

The film was generally well-received, called an "adroit comedy" and "perfectly done",^[9] and it had a wide appeal.^{[10] [11] [12] [13]} Some reviewers deemed the film "too slow."^[14]

It was noted that, although her performance was strong,^[15] Bessie Love was not yet fully a box office draw throughout the country.^{[16] [17]}

External links

• • • • Cheerful Givers at the British Film Institute
• Lobby poster

Notes and References

1. Book: Love, Bessie . 1977 . From Hollywood with Love: An Autobiography of Bessie Love . London . Elm Tree Books . 734075937 . 149.
2. Book: Complete List of Motion Picture Films. 14. Kansas State Board of Review. 1917.
3. Book: The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films 1911–1920. Hanson. Patricia King. University of California Press. Berkeley, California. 1988. 978-0-520-06301-3. 101.
4. Films Reviewed. L.H.. The Billboard. 60. April 21, 1917.
5. Screen Examinations. Motion Picture News. 15. 17. 2690. Milne. Peter. April 28, 1917.
6. Pictures and Everything That Appertains Thereto. The Billboard. 62. April 7, 1917.
7. The Silent Trend. 26. The Photo-Play Journal. May 1917. 2. 1. Essex. Bert D..
8. Book: Horak, Laura. Girls Will Be Boys: Cross-Dressed Women, Lesbians, and American Cinema, 1908–1934. Rutgers University Press. February 26, 2016. 978-0-8135-7484-4.
9. The Shadow Stage. 86–87. Photoplay Magazine. Johnson. Julian. July 1917. 12. 2.
10. What the Picture Did for Me. Motography. 18. 11. September 15, 1917. 542. Whitman. M.H..
11. What the Picture Did for Me. Motography. 18. 13. September 29, 1917. 643. Manley. P.F..
12. Motography. 17. 18. May 5, 1917. 920. What the Picture Did for Me. Trinz. S..
13. Motography. 17. 20. May 19, 1917. 1028. What the Picture Did for Me. Trinz. Edward.
14. Motography. 19. 10. 450. March 9, 1918. A.N.. Miles. What the Picture Did for Me.
15. At the Oak Park Theater. Forest Leaves. 4. 11. 16. April 20, 1917.
16. What the Picture Did for Me. Motography. 18. 2. July 14, 1917. 61. Guthrie. George B..
17. Motography. 17. 19. May 12, 1917. 977. What the Picture Did for Me. Miller. Harry.