The Voice of Destiny (1918)
Mystery | 23 June 1918
After Baby Marie Osborne became silent films' first popular child star at Balboa Studios in Long Beach, CA, her father, Leon Osborne, and W.A.S. Douglas formed a new company, Diando Film Corp., in 1917 and moved into the former Kalem Studio in Glendale, CA's Verdugo Canyon.
Judging from a number of Pathe ads for upcoming Baby Marie Osborne pictures, including a full-page ad in the 13 April 1918 Moving Picture World, the original working title was The Evidence. The 8 June 1918 Motion Picture News announced that Pathe had finally selected The Voice of Destiny for this picture. The item cited H. C. Hoagland as the source of the story. According to the 29 June 1918 Motography, "Baby Marie Osborne, tiny Pathe star, has gone in for serious drama. Her first appearance as a bona fide dramatic star is announced in The Voice of Destiny." The film headlined a Pathe program, released the week of 23 June, that included episode sixteen of The House of Hate, a two-reel travesty of Cleopatra called Cleopatsy, a one-reel Harold Lloyd comedy called Are Crooks Dishonest?, and news reels.
This was one of the early features with child actor Ernest "Ernie" Morrison, who was listed in the credits as "Sambo." The 6 July 1918 Motion Picture News praised "the clever little colored boy who has been seen in so many of Baby Marie's pictures. 'Snowball,' as he is called around the Diando Studios where Baby Maries's picture are produced, is rounding into a capable actor." He later became better known ...
After Baby Marie Osborne became silent films' first popular child star at Balboa Studios in Long Beach, CA, her father, Leon Osborne, and W.A.S. Douglas formed a new company, Diando Film Corp., in 1917 and moved into the former Kalem Studio in Glendale, CA's Verdugo Canyon.
Judging from a number of Pathe ads for upcoming Baby Marie Osborne pictures, including a full-page ad in the 13 April 1918 Moving Picture World, the original working title was The Evidence. The 8 June 1918 Motion Picture News announced that Pathe had finally selected The Voice of Destiny for this picture. The item cited H. C. Hoagland as the source of the story. According to the 29 June 1918 Motography, "Baby Marie Osborne, tiny Pathe star, has gone in for serious drama. Her first appearance as a bona fide dramatic star is announced in The Voice of Destiny." The film headlined a Pathe program, released the week of 23 June, that included episode sixteen of The House of Hate, a two-reel travesty of Cleopatra called Cleopatsy, a one-reel Harold Lloyd comedy called Are Crooks Dishonest?, and news reels.
This was one of the early features with child actor Ernest "Ernie" Morrison, who was listed in the credits as "Sambo." The 6 July 1918 Motion Picture News praised "the clever little colored boy who has been seen in so many of Baby Marie's pictures. 'Snowball,' as he is called around the Diando Studios where Baby Maries's picture are produced, is rounding into a capable actor." He later became better known as "Sunshine Sammy" Morrison.
An anonymous reviewer in the 29 June 1918 Motion Picture News complained, "Little Marie is not given much of a part in this picture. Of the rest of the characters, none gets any sympathy because none deserves it....In both murders the bodies are shown lying on the floor. Such details are unnecessary and they do not add to the entertaining values of a picture." Elsewhere in the same issue, Peter Milne agreed, saying that Baby Marie "is ever a minor pivot in the action and the tedious passages of the mechanical murder story afford her no place to romp about and entertain with her childish pranks."
The Voice of Destiny was one of several Baby Marie films written by former Fox writer Clara Beranger; others included Dolly Does Her Bit, Milady o' the Beanstalk, and Winning Grandma (all 1918, see entries).
According to the 6 July 1918 Exhibitors Herald, the Chicago Board of Censors demanded the following cuts: "Reel 4, shooting man; slugging detective; shooting policeman."
The 15 June 1918 Moving Picture World noted that because of the dictaphone's importance in the plot of this picture, "many exhibitors are planning a novel advertisement campaign to tie up to this business efficiency device."
According to the Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database, only the second and fifth reels of this film are extant.
When Charles Lind is stricken blind, his brother John takes charge of his business affairs, while his little niece Marie, John's daughter, reads his mail to him each day so that he may recite his replies into a dictaphone. After John confesses that he has lost a great deal of Charles' money on the stock market, the two quarrel, and John nearly strangles his brother. Later, a shot rings out, jewelry is stolen, and John is seen crouching by Charles' lifeless body. Following John's arrest, the detectives guarding Marie's house recognize Briggs, the butler, as a wanted criminal, and when Briggs attempts to escape, they shoot him. Marie, in playing with her uncle's dictaphone, discovers that his murderer's voice was captured on the recording. Played at the dying butler's bedside, it prompts Briggs's confession, and John's release from ...
When Charles Lind is stricken blind, his brother John takes charge of his business affairs, while his little niece Marie, John's daughter, reads his mail to him each day so that he may recite his replies into a dictaphone. After John confesses that he has lost a great deal of Charles' money on the stock market, the two quarrel, and John nearly strangles his brother. Later, a shot rings out, jewelry is stolen, and John is seen crouching by Charles' lifeless body. Following John's arrest, the detectives guarding Marie's house recognize Briggs, the butler, as a wanted criminal, and when Briggs attempts to escape, they shoot him. Marie, in playing with her uncle's dictaphone, discovers that his murderer's voice was captured on the recording. Played at the dying butler's bedside, it prompts Briggs's confession, and John's release from prison.
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