FIRES OF REBELLION

Released 7/02/17 by Universal/Bluebird Photoplays; Director: Ida May Park; Screenplay: Ida May Park; Cinematography: King Gray; 5 reels

CAST: Dorothy Phillips (Madge Garvey), Belle Bennett (Helen Garvey), Golda Madden (Cora Hayes), Alice May Youst (Mrs. Garvey), William Stowell (John Blake), Lon Chaney (Russell Hanlon), Edwin J. Brady (Dan Mallory), Richard La Reno (Joe Garvey)

SYNOPSIS: Madge Garvey lives with her frail mother and cruel, drunkard of a father. Her sister, Helen, married Dan Mallory, a drunken lout like her father. Dan was discharged from the shoe factory by John Blake, the new foreman. Dan arrives at the factory the next day, drunk, and attacks the foreman. Blake knocks him down and has his friends take him home. There he is pronounced dead as a result of heart failure, not from Blake's blow. Helen returns to her miserable life at home, as she is about to give birth to a child. Blake comes by to discuss her insurance claim for Dan, sees Madge, and is immediately attracted to her. Cora Hayes, a conceited stenographer who often boasted of her many male conquests, leaves for New York, and she writes Madge about the wonderful city life. Blake proposes to Madge and she reluctantly accepts. After receiving a second letter from Madge, she takes money Blake had given her father for a wedding dress, along with the $200 insurance payment Helen gives her, and flees to New York. There she is introduced to Cora's boss, Russell Hanlon, who makes a living selling women's lingerie. Hanlon takes her to a studio to be painted for a poster. When Madge sees the scanty costume she is to wear, she runs out. At a dinner party that evening, Madge has her first taste of wine and become sick, whereupon Cora takes her home. Her money is gone, and she pawns her dress so that she can return the money to Blake. Mr. Garvey dies and Blake takes Helen, her mother, and the baby into his home to care for them. Desperate for work, Madge agrees to pose for a magazine ad in a daring costume. Blake sees the shocking ad and determines to bring her home. He tracks her to the painter's studio, where he rescues her from the advances of Hanlon. He tells Madge of the little cottage waiting for them, and she nestles in his arms happily.

"Dorothy Phillips has been seen to better advantage than as Madge Garvey in this late Bluebird offering...The action moves swiftly without a perceptible break in its continuity. The cast is well Chosen. Lon Chaney gives a good characterization." ---Motion Picture News

"The manufacturer of lingerie (Chaney) is an old hand at snaring such innocent birds and works his scheme so successfully that the timely arrival of the foreman is the only thing that saves the model from the usual consequences of such affairs...The scenes before Madge goes to the city are the best and most novel in the story. What follows is the customary list of misfortunes for the poor girl away from home." ---Moving Picture World

NOTES: The July 21, 1917 issue of Motion Picture News provided a list of 25 musical queues that could be used by the house musicians to accompany the picture. The main theme was Serenade (6/8 Andantino) by R. Czerwonky.

Also, check out this lobby card on my Poster Gallery.


© 1996,2008 Jon C. Mirsalis


Return to Filmography