Margerie Lowry in the movies Part 3

The third post in a series looking at Margerie Lowry in the movies.

The Ancient Highway 1925

The Ancient Highway (1925) American B&W : Seven reels / 6034 feet Directed by Irvin Willat; Cast: Jack Holt [Cliff Brant], Billie Dove [Antoinette St. Ives], Montagu Love [Ivan Hurd], Stanley Taylor [Gaspard St. Ives], Lloyd Whitlock [John Denis], William A. Carroll [Ambrose], Marjorie Bonner [Angel Fanchon], Christian J. Frank [George Bolden. A Famous Players-Lasky Corporation production; distributed by Paramount Pictures Corporation. / Scenario by James Shelley Hamilton and Eve Unsell, from the novel The Ancient Highway: A Novel of High Hearts and Open Roads by James Oliver Curwood. Cinematography by Alfred Gilks. Presented by Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky. / © 16 November 1925 [LP22006]. Premiered 8 November 1925 in New York, New York. General release, 16 November 1925. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.37:1 format. / Stuntman R.D. Jones drowned while shooting a river rapids canoe stunt for the film. Silent Era (Note that the novel, the film is based on, was written by James Oliver Curwood who Malc later identified with in his short story Elephant and Colosseum.

As "The Ancient Highway" pursues its course, one can't help hoping during the initial chapters that the story won't go any nearer to the great open spaces than the rooms in which the hero holds forth in town. But it does, and soon one perceives on the same screen on which Milton Sills was exhibited in "The Knockout" some more logrolling, dynamiting and a series of hectic scenes, in which the hero and the heroine are blown into the turbulent waters among the great tree trunks.

The captions have to make up for the lack of action in a number of places, for there is not much interest in a man and a woman merely gazing into each other's eyes. One subtitle announces that there was no moon that night; but when the scenes are depicted it seems wonderfully clear, and one can't help realizing that the sun, at least, was somewhere in the skies at the time this episode was taken—before it went through the process of blue tinting. Jack Holt officiates as Cliff Brant in this yarn. When he rescues Antoinette St. Ives from a peregrination on that supposedly awful night he can't resist picking up her hand and kissing it ravenously.

Too much ground is covered in this subject, with the consequence that the interest in the story suffers. While Cliff is devoting his herculean energies toward freeing the masses of logs, the opposition camp has the bright idea of dynamiting a hill so that much of it will fall into the stream and thus undo all Cliff's good work.

The Villain informs the heroine that he dares everything because he loves her, and Antoinette thereupon declares that he does not know what love is. She points to Cliff, who, she says, is risking his life for her.

There is the usual misunderstanding between Antoinette and Cliff. In fact it seems as if Antoinette anticipates the conflict. The comedy character flops and falls over anything that happens to be near him, so that it appears as if he were the type of individual who would trip over an ant.

Mr. Holt is sincere in his rôle, even if he does overdo the kissing scenes. He is a clean-cut player and the implausible scenes are not attributable to him, but to the scenarist and the director. Billie Dove is active and attractive as Antoinette. Montagu Love gives a sound performance as the villain.

Those who like logrolling and dynamiting thrills will find this picture leaves nothing to the imagination. NY Times By MORDAUNT HALL. Published: November 11, 1925



Photos from the Silent Screen Stills Archive

James Stephens and James Oliver Curwood

"And if you can imagine a combination of Jack London, James Stephens and James Oliver Curwood- with a bit of roaring O'Neill thrown in for good measure, there you have Cosnahan!" Elephant and Colosseum

The above is quoted by Cosnahan while reading a review of one of his novels in Lowry's short story. These appear to be the only references in Lowry's work to James Stephens and James Oliver Curwood.

James Stephens



James Stephens wrote many retellings of Irish myths and fairy tales. His retellings are marked by a rare combination of humor and lyricism (Deirdre, and Irish Fairy Tales are often singled out for praise). He also wrote several original novels (Crock of Gold, Etched in Moonlight, Demi-Gods) loosely based on Irish fairy tales. "Crock of Gold," in particular, achieved enduring popularity and was frequently reprinted throughout the author's lifetime.

Stephens began his career as a poet under the tutelage of "Æ" (George William Russell). His first book of poems, "Insurrections," was published in 1909. His last book, "Kings and the Moon" (1938), was also a volume of verse.

In the 1930s, Stephens had some acquaintance with James Joyce, who found that they shared a birth year (and, Joyce mistakenly believed, a birthday). Joyce, who was concerned with his ability to finish what would later become Finnegans Wake, proposed at one point that Stephens assist him, with the authorship credited to JJ & S (James Joyce & Stephens, also a pun for the popular Irish whiskey made by John Jameson & Sons). The plan, however, never came to fruition, as Joyce was able to complete the work on his own.

In the last decade of his life, Stephens found a new audience through a series of broadcasts on the BBC. Wikipedia

James Oliver Curwood



James Oliver Curwood (June 12, 1878 – August 13, 1927) was an American novelist and conservationist. His writing studio, Curwood Castle, is now a museum in Owosso, Michigan.

Curwood was born in Owosso, the youngest of four children. He left high school before graduation, but passed the entrance exam to the University of Michigan, where he enrolled in the English department and studied journalism. After two years, he quit college to become a reporter. In 1900, Curwood sold his first story while working for the Detroit News-Tribune. By 1909 he had saved enough money to travel to the Canadian northwest, a trip that provided the inspiration for his wilderness adventure stories. The success of his novels afforded him the opportunity to return to the Yukon and Alaska for several months each year that allowed him to write more than thirty such books.

By 1922, Curwood's writings had made him a very wealthy man and he fulfilled a childhood fantasy by building Curwood Castle in Owosso. Constructed in the style of an 18th century French chateau, the estate overlooked the Shiawassee River. In one of the homes' two large turrets, Curwood set up his writing studio. He also owned a camp in a remote area in Baraga County, Michigan, near the Huron Mountains as well as a cabin in Roscommon, Michigan.

Curwood was an avid hunter in his youth; however, as he grew older, he became an advocate of environmentalism and was appointed to the Michigan Conservation Commission in 1926. The change in his attitude toward wild life can be best expressed by a quote from The Grizzly King: "The greatest thrill is not to kill but to let live."

In 1927, while on a fishing trip in Florida, Curwood was bitten on the thigh by what was believed to have been a spider and he had an immediate allergic reaction. Health problems related to the bite escalated over the next few months and infection set in that led to his death from blood poisoning at the age of 48. Curwood was interred in the Oak Hill Cemetery in Owosso. At the time of his death, he was the highest paid (per word) author in the world Read more on Wikipedia