Slander (1916)
Melodrama | 9 April 1916
The film's working title was Scandal. Slander was copyrighted at six reels but most reviews list its length at five reels.
Slander was the first of three films that forty-year-old Bertha Kalich, a star of the Yiddish theater, made back-to-back for Fox in 1916 (see also Ambition and Love and Hate). According to an item in the 4 March 1916 Motion Picture News, the Galician stage actress, who had found great success in America, had been "averse to appearing in motion pictures...until she was assured that the picture plays selected for her would be of a type designed to introduce her favorably" to movie audiences. She had already begun working on Slander. Following the three Fox films, Kalich permanently retired from making movies.
The 15 April 1916 Motion Picture News, beneath three photographic stills from Slander, stated that it was Madam Kalich's first photoplay. However, she had starred two years earlier in Famous Players' Marta of the Lowland (1914, see entry).
The 1 April 1916 Motography reported that work on what was then being called Scandal was held up because two child actors, Kittens Reichert and Walter Ferguson, had contracted measles. The 22 April 1916 Motography noted that director Will S. Davis also took a small part in the film, as a pickpocket.
According to an advertisement in the 23 December 1916 Moving Picture World, at least some scenes for Slander may have been filmed at the Kalem Company studios at 235 West 23rd Street in New York City.
...
The film's working title was Scandal. Slander was copyrighted at six reels but most reviews list its length at five reels.
Slander was the first of three films that forty-year-old Bertha Kalich, a star of the Yiddish theater, made back-to-back for Fox in 1916 (see also Ambition and Love and Hate). According to an item in the 4 March 1916 Motion Picture News, the Galician stage actress, who had found great success in America, had been "averse to appearing in motion pictures...until she was assured that the picture plays selected for her would be of a type designed to introduce her favorably" to movie audiences. She had already begun working on Slander. Following the three Fox films, Kalich permanently retired from making movies.
The 15 April 1916 Motion Picture News, beneath three photographic stills from Slander, stated that it was Madam Kalich's first photoplay. However, she had starred two years earlier in Famous Players' Marta of the Lowland (1914, see entry).
The 1 April 1916 Motography reported that work on what was then being called Scandal was held up because two child actors, Kittens Reichert and Walter Ferguson, had contracted measles. The 22 April 1916 Motography noted that director Will S. Davis also took a small part in the film, as a pickpocket.
According to an advertisement in the 23 December 1916 Moving Picture World, at least some scenes for Slander may have been filmed at the Kalem Company studios at 235 West 23rd Street in New York City.
The plot of Slander closely resembled the third film, Love and Hate.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of January 2021.
When Richard Tremaine falls in love with Helene, the wife of his attorney, he decides to ruin her marriage, so by forging a letter he convinces her husband, John Blair, that she is cheating on him. John insists on a divorce, after which a confused Helene consents to marry Richard. Before the wedding, however, she learns that he already has a wife, and also that it was he who wrecked her marriage. To get revenge, she makes Richard's son Joseph fall in love with her. Helene, Richard, and Joseph then meet, and while Richard threatens to commit suicide, his gun accidentally goes off, killing Joseph. In court, Helene completes her revenge by testifying against Richard, but just before he is to be executed, she recants and reveals that the murder was accidental. She then is reconciled with John, who has learned from her testimony that Richard fabricated the story of Helene's ...
When Richard Tremaine falls in love with Helene, the wife of his attorney, he decides to ruin her marriage, so by forging a letter he convinces her husband, John Blair, that she is cheating on him. John insists on a divorce, after which a confused Helene consents to marry Richard. Before the wedding, however, she learns that he already has a wife, and also that it was he who wrecked her marriage. To get revenge, she makes Richard's son Joseph fall in love with her. Helene, Richard, and Joseph then meet, and while Richard threatens to commit suicide, his gun accidentally goes off, killing Joseph. In court, Helene completes her revenge by testifying against Richard, but just before he is to be executed, she recants and reveals that the murder was accidental. She then is reconciled with John, who has learned from her testimony that Richard fabricated the story of Helene's infidelity.
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