Synopsis
At the outbreak of the civil war, the young men of Virginia enlist in the Confederate army.
In his home Colonel Jefferson Beverly Winslow (Keenan), a proud Southern gentleman, is reading a letter from General PGT Beauregard who welcomes the addition of Winslow’s son, Frank, to the Confederate armies.
Frank’s mother is distressed at the thought of him going off to war, but her husband tells her that Frank must go.
At this moment, Frank and his sweetheart. Amy (Gibson), are sitting in the garden watching a hummingbird on its nest. They hear a band in the street and investigate. A crowd of men at town hall are enlisting. Their sweethearts are excited. Amy is excited too. Frank goes along to enlist, but steps away. He fears that he is a coward and leaves before enlisting. Amy is surprised and disappointed.
At home, Frank, upset, tells his mothe about his fear. When he goes to his father, the Colonel gets out a gun and threatens to shoot him if he will not enlist. His father forces him to go to the town hall. Frank reluctantly takes the oath.
Soon the day arrives for the soldiers to move to the front. The troops march out of town, an unhappy and fearful Frank among them.
A single day’s march from home, the soldiers can hear the sounds of battle in the distance. Frank on patrol along the river flinches at every sound. Finally, he runs away and goes home. His mother and the servants try to hide him. He collapses into his bed.
Colonel Winslow is angry at the disgrace. He exclaims, “Why was I born to be the father of a coward?” The Colonel becomes Private Winslow so that a Winslow will be present to answer at role call. Frank remains at home.
Union forces occupy the town. The officers quarter in the Winslow home. Frank hides in the attic. Below him, in the dining room, the officers discuss their plans. They lack sufficient troops, especially at the center, to fight immediately but expect reinforcements the next day.
As Frank realizes his advanced knowledge of the union weakness, the courage inherited from his forebears fills him, and he resolves to act. Holding the officers with two guns, he takes a copy of their map. He sneaks out, attacks a union soldier, and steals the soldier’s uniform. Taking a horse, he rides toward the southern lines, with union troops chasing him.
Private Winslow, on guard duty along the river, sees the fast approaching horseman. As the horseman gallops across the bridge, Winslow fires. Horse and rider fall off the bridge into the river. Frank, wounded, staggers out of the water and into the Confederate camp. He gives the plans to the general.
The Southern troops attack. Private Winslow is prominent in the fighting, waving the flag and leading a charge. The Southeners win the battle. The troops celebrate.
Frank, severly wounded, tells the general his name. Private Winslow is brought to his bedside but denies that he knows him. The general explains about the plans and indicates that he believes that Private Winslow shot him. The father becomes extremely distressed and rushes to his son. He holds him in his arms and kisses him. Frank, happy to be forgiven, pats his father’s arm.
Discussion
As the 50th anniversary, in 1915, of the end of the Civil War approached, many ceremonies were held accross the nation to mark the occasion. Film stories with a Civil War setting were popular. In the period from 1910 through 1914, filmmakers produced more than 250 films with a Civil War setting. The Birth of the Nation (1915), the first major American feature film, is the climactic production with a Civil War era setting.
Many of the films with a Civil War setting focus their stories in the South. Stories of so-called Southern chivalric ideals and the noble and herioic deeds associated with the defeated South appealed to both Northern and Southern audiences. Filmmakers followed the preferences of their patrons and produced a greater number of stories concentrated on a Southern perspective. Many of these films concerned tragedies of split families, high nobility and abject cowardice, suffering and death.
Films with Civil War themes became less common after 1916, the World War I period. Stories of the contemporary war dominated the war film genre. Neither Frank Keenan nor Charles Ray made another Civil War film.
In The Coward, the progression of the personal story is backdropped by the events occuring in the area around the Winslow home. At the beginning of the film, the population of the town is on the street discussing the coming war, and many young men are enlisting. Later, the newly trained soldiers parade through the town. Private Winslow participates in the battle. After the battle, the Private is sitting in camp among his fellow soldiers before he is called to his son’s bedside.
The film reviewer in The New York Times writes that the “daring feat of the horse and rider plunging from the narrow bridge into the stream below drew an audible gasp from the audience.” Many horses and riders would plunge off a variety of structures in the years to follow, but this example from 1915 must be one of the earliest in film history. Certainly, the “gasp” would seem to indicate that the members of the audience were not experienced in seeing such stunts.
A weakness in the scenario is Frank’s rapid change from cowardice to bravery. He overhears the union officers’ conversation, realizes the advantage to his side from the information, and undergoes an immediate change in demeanor and attitude. An intertitle attributes the change to his inheritance of bravery from his ancestors. Ray carries off this change in a close-up of his face as its slackness firms up to a look of determination.
Frank Keenan, theater veteran, made his feature film debut as Colonel Winslow. Keenan’s body movements are mostly restrained. His facial expression is fixed in a solemn stare. During the concluding scenes, his movements become exaggerated, waving his arms and twisting his body.
Keenan received mostly complements from reviewers. The reviewer in Moving Picture World writes that Keenan “knows the role right down to the ground. He gives a remarkable interpretation of the rugged old colonel.” The anonymous reviewer in The New York Times notes Keenan’s “rugged characterization of the fine old Southern father”, but also notes that “there is a bit too much of Mr Keenan standing point blank before the camera and turning his head slowly from left to right.” Jolo of Variety thought “the picture might be improved by eliminating some of the numerous Keenan close-ups. He is a bit too 'theatrical'.”
Charles Ray had been with the Ince studio since 1913 and had appeared in dozens of short (two reel ) films. Ray, age 23, was the leading juvenile player at the studio. A more experienced film actor than Keenan, Ray’s acting is natural and restrained throughout, especially his facial expressions and hand movements.
Ray’s reviews were good. He “gives a strong performance” according to the reviewer in Moving Picture World. Jolo in Variety names Ray “the actual star, in point of artistic performance … He expressed so much without contorting his features. Ray’s performance is really a revelation in picture acting.” On the other hand, The New York Times reviewer does not mention him.
In November, a sentence in Variety reported that “Charles Ray, the Ince juvenile, is showered with congratulations for his work in The Coward.” After The Coward, Ray advanced to star status with the studio, the public, and film reviewers. An example of the opinions of reviewers is this praise from Jolo, the Variety reviewer, for his acting in The Dividend (1916). “His performance is far superior to his great acting in The Coward, which is equivalent to stamping it as the highest kind of screen art.” Ray’s status as a star and statements of high esteem for his acting continued through the remainder of the 1910s and into the early 1920s. After Ray left the Ince Studio in 1921, his status as star and as highly esteemed actor dropped rapidly.
The Coward was released in October 1915 by Triangle Motion Picture Company as one of four films on a Triangle Film program. The Triangle name derived from the subdivision of film production among the corporation’s three vice presidents, D. W. Griffith, Thomas H. Ince, and Mack Sennett. Each member of this trio, the art directors of the company, had his own studio lot where films were produced under his supervision. The Fine Arts Film Company was Griffith’s studio, the Sennett company was named Keystone, and the Ince Company was Kay-Bee Pictures. A Triangle Film program consisted of three films, one from each studio. The first Triangle program, released in September 1915, consisted of Fine Arts' The Lamb, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Kay-Bee Pictures' The Iron Strain, starring Dustin Farnum, and Keystone's My Valet, starring Raymond Hitchcock.
The second Triangle program consisted of Kay-Bee's The Coward, Fine Arts' Old Heidelberg, starring Dorothy Gish and Wallace Reid, and two two-reel short films from Keystone, Stolen Magic, starring Raymond Hitchcock, and Favorite Fool, starring Eddie Foy and family.
Triangle Films was formed in 1915 by Harry E. Aitken, a Midwestern businessman, who had been involved in film production, distribution, and exhibition since 1910. In 1913, Aitken had signed D. W. Griffith for his Majestic Studio and financed Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation. The great success of the film made Aitken a fortune. Aitken invested his earnings in a film production and releasing company, Triangle Motion Picture Company. Triangle, organized in July 1915 with Aitken as president, would produce feature films. Aitken engaged D.W. Griffith, Mack Sennett, and Thomas H. Ince to produce the company’s films.
Further Reading