Dallas Anderson as Gavin Dishart and Maude Adams as Lady Babbie |
Maude Adams has so far successfully
withstood the fabulous offers made her
to act before the motion picture camera.
She has always declared that she will not belittle her art by appearing on the screen despite
the large financial remuneration. In order to
find a satisfactory substitute for the film drama,
however, Miss Adams has hit upon a novel compromise something which she believes will answer the same purpose.
It Is nothing less than a series of shadow pictures of herself and her companies in the plays of
J. M. Barrie, In which she has made her greatest
reputation. It will not be many years before
Miss Adams will retire from the speaking stage
altogether and she has already set about making silhouettes of herself. The first of these, reproduced here to-day, are taken from "The Little
Minister," In which she Is now appearing with
great success at the Empire Theatre. The play
was first seen on the New York stage over ten
years ago, but it's charm has never grown old.
The shadow pictures are extraordinarily life
like reproductions of the stage characters. In
many respects they surpass actual photographs.
Miss Adams plans to have them taken of every
scene in which she has appeared and to file them
away for future reference and comparison.
Heretofore managers have believed that the
best way to carry down their productions to posterity was to have motion pictures taken of the
plays. Besides the additional financial revenue
that accrues to them by this method a certain additional publicity is secured by means of the
plays on the screen, especially as they reach a
much larger public than the spoken drama. Of
course there is always the possibility that the
movies may ultimately Interfere with the popularity of the spoken play but the managers have
been willing to take this chance.
The characters portrayed in the present series
of silhouettes of "The Little Minister" include
Miss Adams as lady Babbie; Dallas Anderson as Gavin Dishart, Elsie Carens as Felive, Gladys Gillen as Micah Doir. Ada Boshelll as Nannie
Webster, and Angela Ogden as Jean.
To any one who has seen the present production of "The Little Mlnister" the silhouettes will immediately recall not only the scene of the play
but the particular facial characteristics of the persons therein if not the very conversation or
dialogue that is taking place.
When Miss Adams was questioned about this
novel idea of hers she said that it was the nearest substitute for the "movies" that she could
think of at the time and besides that in many
respects the silhouettes were much more artistic
than photographs.
Scenes from Barrie's famous play preserved in shadow pictures. |
If Miss Adams carries out her intention to
have silhouettes taken of her other plays, she will
have a particularly delightful field of endeavor
in "Peter Pan," the boy who never grew up in
the play that never grows old. It Is doubtful,
however, if Tinker Bell would ever consent to
have a silhouette made of her. But the Lost Children, Wendy, Captain Hook: and the scores and scores of other delightful and charming people pictured in Mr. Barrie's plays would form
excellent subjects.
It Is not at all unlikely that other managers
will follow Miss Adams's example in the same
direction by having similar pictures taken of
their various productions. It would undoubtedly
make for a higher artistic appreciation of the art
of the theater and would carry down to future
generations something of the spirit of the plays
which their fathers and grandfathers saw before them. (The Sun, Sunday, February 20, 1916.)
"The Little Minister" tells his love. |
Lady Babbie goes away. |
Lady Babbie serves tea. |
The two at the well. |
Now the little minister has to explain. |
Now the little minister sees Babbie as a fine lady. |
Later, a film was made of J. M. Barrie's 1897 play.
Theatrical release poster |
"The Little Minister" is a 1934 American drama film directed by Richard Wallace. The screenplay by Jane Murfin, Sarah Y. Mason, and Victor Heerman is based on the 1891 novel and subsequent 1897 play of the same title by J. M. Barrie. It was the fifth feature film adaptation of the works, following four silent film versions. The original novel was the third of the three "Thrums" novels (a town based on his home of Kirriemuir), which first brought Barrie to fame.
Set in rural 1840s Scotland, the plot focuses on labor and class issues while telling the story of Gavin Dishart, a staid cleric newly assigned to Thrums' Auld Licht church, and Babbie, a member of the nobility who disguises herself as a gypsy
girl in order to interact freely with the local villagers and protect
them from her guardian, Lord Rintoul, who wants to keep them under his
control. Initially the conservative Dishart is appalled by the feisty
girl, but he soon comes to appreciate her inner goodness. Their romantic
liaison scandalizes the townspeople, and the minister's position is jeopardized until Babbie's true identity is revealed.
Katharine Hepburn initially rejected the role of Babbie, then reconsidered, against the advice of her agent Leland Hayward, when Margaret Sullavan
was offered the role. The film was budgeted at $650,000, which at the
time was considered a high amount, and much of it was spent on exterior
shooting in California's Sherwood Forest and Laurel Canyon and on the elaborate village set constructed on the RKO back lot. (It later was used in a number of films, including Laurel and Hardy's Bonnie Scotland). It was RKO's most expensive film of the year and the most expensive film in which Hepburn had appeared.
The soundtrack
includes the traditional Scottish tunes "The Bonnie Banks O' Loch
Lomond," "Comin' Thro' the Rye," and "House of Argyle." The 3-CD set Max Steiner: The RKO Years 1929-1936 includes ten tracks of incidental music Steiner composed for the film.
The film had its world premiere at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. (Wikipedia)