| Heartaches | |
| Director: | Lloyd B. Carleton |
| Producer: | Lloyd B. Carleton[1] |
| Starring: | |
| Studio: | Universal |
| Distributor: | Universal |
| Runtime: | 15–24 minutes (2 reels) |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English intertitles |
Heartaches is a 1916 American silent short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a story by Grant Carpenter. This drama's features Dorothy Davenport, Alfred Allen, and Emory Johnson.
This story is about an old Southern plantation owner reminiscing how a minor quarrel destroyed the relationship with the love of his life. When his grandson has a minor argument with his girlfriend and seeks advice from his grandfather, the grandfather related his story of lost love and told his grandson to patch things up quickly.
The film was released on May 19, 1916, by Universal.[2]
Stonewall Jackson (Jack) Hunt attends Harvard University where, besides his studies, he also runs track. One day, he receives a letter from his grandfather, Judge Randolph. The judge's letter informs Jack he can no longer send money to support his education. The judge explains his Virginia plantation is now fully mortgaged. He only remains on the plantation through the good graces of the mortgage holder - The New York Trust Company. While traveling to a competition, Jack catches his first glimpse of the younger Virginia Payne. It intrigues him.
Virginia Payne lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with her grandmother, who uses a wheelchair, Virginia Warrington Payne. Virginia has decided to attend a local college meet. Before she leaves home, she gives her grandmother and her old silk purse, which she always keeps close by, and puts an old gown of her youth on a nearby chair. Virginia's friends pick her up, and they head to the games. During the meet, she sees Jack for the first time. After a while, she starts cheering for him.
While her granddaughter is away, her grandmother dreams about her old sweetheart and how they parted, never to see each other again. Then she sighed and went to sleep. She would never awake. At the same time, Judge Randolph is sitting in front of his fireplace. He is dreaming about the love of his life and how he lets her slip away.
When Virginia returns home, she finds her grandmother has passed away. Her grandmother is holding a packet. An attached note says Virginia should not open this package until she is engaged. Virginia also finds a letter addressed to Judge William Randolph. She mails the letter. When the judge receives the letter, he finds out Virginia is now alone in the world. Virginia's grandmother then asked Judge Randolph if he could protect Virginia for old time's sake. The judge wires Virginia to travel to his plantation.
Jack is desperate for money, so he enters a poker game. He loses everything. Jack finds out where Virginia lives and decides on a visit. Jack becomes concerned when he sees crepe draped all over the house and is relieved to find out it is for Virginia's grandmother. With no money and no prospects, he decided to return to his grandfather's plantation in Virginia. On the same day, Jack decides to return to his grandfather's plantation; unbeknownst to Jack, Virginia is traveling to the same destination. Jack tries to ride for free with the baggage but is caught and thrown off the train. Amid the chaos, Virginia recognized Jack, learns of his circumstances, and offers to pay his fare. Jack refuses at first, then finds out they are both headed to his grandfather's plantation. He then accepts Virginia's offer.
It surprises the judge when they both show up at his front door. The judge is amazed at the resemblance of Virginia to her grandmother. The judge soon learns Jack has gambled away everything. The judge tells Jack if he wants to live like a gentleman, he will need to work on the plantation alongside the other laborers. Jack has no choice but to accept.
Soon after that, the judge discovers Jack and Virginia kissing in the back of a shed. The judge warns Jack not to trifle with her affections. Jack assures the judge that will never happen. Soon the young lovers have a squabble over some petty matter. A concerned judge chooses to impart some of his wisdom.
The judge tells Virginia:
Nothing is the beginning - Nothing is the end - but many heartaches lie between.The judge then relates how a minor quarrel led to a breakup with the women he loved more than life itself. They never got back together. He never stopped loving her and will until the day he dies. He then tells Virginia the woman he loved was her grandmother. Virginia is overcome with emotion and begs the judge to talk to Jack.
The judge speaks to Jack and tells him to apologize to Virginia. After some persuasive back-and-forth, Jack leaves to find Virginia. When he finds her, she is dressed in her grandmother's old gown, the same dress her grandmother wore when she broke up with the judge. Jack says he is genuinely sorry for the quarrel. They engage in a warm embrace.
Virginia feels now is the time to open the sealed packet her grandmother left her. The pack contains the mortgage from Judge Randolph to the New York Trust Company. The mortgage is paid in full, and the property is assigned to her grandmother. Virginia recognizes her grandmother had lived a frugal life to save the judge's plantation. While still wearing her grandmother's gown, she takes the mortgage to Judge Randolph. The judge imagines he sees Virginia Warrington and realizes that Virginia's grandmother never stopped loving him.
| Actor | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| Dorothy Davenport | Virginia Payne | |
| Helen Wright | Virginia Warrington Payne (Virginia's Grandmother) | |
| Emory Johnson | Stonewall Jackson (Jack) Hunt | |
| Alfred Allen | Judge William Randolph (Jack's Grandfather) |
In the book, "American Cinema's Transitional Era," the authors point out, One aspect of this transition was the longer duration of films. Feature films were slowly becoming the standard fare for Hollywood producers. Before 1913, you could count the yearly features on two hands. Between 1915 and 1916, the number of feature movies rose 2 ½ times or from 342 films to 835. There was a recurring claim that Carl Laemmle was the longest-running studio chief resisting the production of feature films.[3] Universal was not ready to downsize its short film business because short films were cheaper, faster, and more profitable to produce than feature films.
Laemmle would continue to buck this trend while slowly increasing his output of features.In 1914, Laemmle published an essay titled - [4] In 1915, Laemmle ran an advertisement extolling Bluebird films while adding the following vocabulary on the top of the ad.Carl Laemmle released 100 feature-length films in 1916, as stated in Clive Hirschhorn's book,
Lloyd B. Carleton (–1933) started working for Carl Laemmle in the Fall of 1915.[7] Carleton arrived with impeccable credentials, having directed some 60 films for the likes of Thanhouser, Lubin, Fox, and Selig.[8]
Between March and December 1916, 44-year-old Lloyd Carleton directed 16 movies for Universal, starting with The Yaqui and ending with The Morals of Hilda. Emory Johnson acted in all 16 of these films. Of Carleton's total 1916 output, 11 were feature films, and the rest were two-reel shorts.
Carleton was given the task by Carl Laemmle to determine if the Davenport-Johnson duo had the desired on-screen chemistry. In 1916, Carleton directed 13 films pairing Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson. This film would be the third in the 13-film series.
| Doctor Neighbor | May-1 | L. B. Carleton | Hazel Rogers | Hamilton Powers | Drama | Feature | Lost | ||||||||||
| Her Husband's Faith | May-11 | L. B. Carleton | Mabel Otto | Richard Otto | Drama | Short | Lost | Laemmle | |||||||||
| Heartaches | May-18 | L. B. Carleton | Virginia Payne | S Jackson Hunt | Drama | Short | Lost | Laemmle | |||||||||
| Two Mothers | Jun-01 | L. B. Carleton | Violetta Andree | 2nd Husband | Drama | Short | Lost | Laemmle | |||||||||
| Her Soul's Song | Jun-15 | L. B. Carleton | Mary Salsbury | Paul Chandos | Drama | Short | Lost | Laemmle | |||||||||
| The Way of the World | Jul-03 | L. B. Carleton | Beatrice Farley | Walter Croyden | Drama | Feature | Lost | ||||||||||
| No. 16 Martin Street | Jul-13 | L. B. Carleton | Cleo | Jacques Fournier | Drama | Short | Lost | Laemmle | |||||||||
| A Yoke of Gold | Aug-14 | L. B. Carleton | Carmen | Jose Garcia | Drama | Feature | Lost | ||||||||||
| The Unattainable | Sep-04 | L. B. Carleton | Bessie Gale | Robert Goodman | Drama | Feature | 1 of 5 reels | ||||||||||
| Black Friday | Sep-18 | L. B. Carleton | Elionor Rossitor | Charles Dalton | Drama | Feature | Lost | ||||||||||
| The Human Gamble | Oct-08 | L. B. Carleton | Flavia Hill | Charles Hill | Drama | Short | Lost | Laemmle | |||||||||
| Barriers of Society | Oct-10 | L. B. Carleton | Martha Gorham | Westie Phillips | Drama | Feature | 1 of 5 reels | ||||||||||
| The Devil's Bondwoman | Nov-11 | L. B. Carleton | Beverly Hope | Mason Van Horton | Drama | Feature | Lost | ||||||||||
The movie is based on a story written by year old Louis Grant Carpenter (1865–1936). Carpenter had worked as a newspaperman and an attorney. In 1916, he moved to Manhattan, New York City, to embark upon a new career as a writer.
On March 15, 1915, Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios.[9] Since this film required no location shooting, it was filmed in its entirety at the new studio complex.
When films enter production, they need the means to reference the project. A Working title is assigned to the project. A Working Title can also be named an In many cases, a working title will become the release title.
Working titles are used primarily for two reasons:
The Laemmle 2-reel short film of Heartaches should not be confused with the 1915 feature film Heartaches. The 1915 4-reel production was directed by Joseph Kaufman and produced by Lubin. The film starred Vinnie Burns and Jessie Terry. The film was released on December 20, 1915. Releasing movies with identical names is uncommon, but the six-month difference in these two films' release dates is unique. There are no copyright listings for Lubin's 1915 Heartaches in either the individual movie listings or the section sorted by producing companies in the Catalog of Copyright Entries.[10] Movie title names can not be copyrighted.[11]
The film was copyrighted on May 12, 1916[1] and officially released on May 19, 1916.[2]
In 1916, advertising money spent on short films was minimal compared to feature films. A brief synopsis was the norm. Short films were shown in conjunction with other short films to create a "diversified program." In this case, a newspaper ad[12] showed Heartaches playing along with two other films. The other films are:
In the May 20, 1916 issue of the Moving Picture World, the reviewer writes:[13]
In the May 24, 1916 issue of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the reviewer writes:[14]
Many silent-era films did not survive for reasons as explained on this Wikipedia page.
According to the Library of Congress, all known copies of this film are lost.