THAT DEVIL BATEESE

Released 9/02/18 by Universal/Bluebird Photoplays; Director: William Wolbert; Screenplay: Bernard McConville, from a story by Bess Meredyth; Cinematography: Charles Seeling; 5 reels

CAST: Monroe Salisbury (Bateese Latour), Ada Gleason (Kathleen St. John), Lamar Johnstone (Martin Stuart), Lon Chaney (Louis Courteau), Andrew Robson (Father Pierre)

SYNOPSIS: Bateese Latour is a lumberjack in the French Canadian district, and he arrives in the village of Montrouge after a summer spent in the woods. Bateese is a kind man, and beloved by the townspeople, but he is a bit of a savage, and everyone refers to him as "That Devil Bateese," especially when he is drunk, which is often. After a quarrel with her lover, Martin Stuart, Kathleen St. John leaves her Montreal home to teach at a parish school in the Montrouge. On her way to the home of Father Pierre, she becomes lost and is seized by Louis Courteau, a terrifying brute who lives in the woods. He is struggling with her, trying to kiss her, when Bateese comes down river on a raft. He struggles with Courteau and gives him a beating. He tries to win Kathleen, but she finds his manner too coarse for her tastes. She learns that Stuart is coming to take her home, and not wanting to marry him, she agrees to marry Bateese. When Kathleen tells Bateese that she does not really love him, he goes away, heartbroken. Courteau comes to the cabin and fights with Stuart. While the two fight, Kathleen runs into the night to find Bateese. Bateese, miserable over Kathleen's failure to love him, has thrown himself from a cliff. Kathleen finds him injured, but alive, and she realizes that Bateese is the man she really loves.

"Some excellent locations have been provided for the delineation of this tale, which is stronger in many ways than the average of its kind. There is considerable villainy of the obvious type, but on the other hand the characters ring true and really interesting." --- Moving Picture World

NOTES: Though set in Canada, the film was shot in the San Bernardino mountains in California. THAT DEVIL BATEESE was released earlier than THE TALK OF THE TOWN, DANGER--GO SLOW, THE WICKED DARLING, and PAID IN ADVANCE, but was the last film that Chaney worked on before leaving Universal.

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