The Heart of Rachael (1918)
Drama | 30 September 1918
Director:
Howard HickmanWriter:
Jack CunninghamProducer:
Bessie BarriscaleProduction Companies:
Bessie Barriscale Productions, Paralta Plays, Inc.An item in the 31 August 1918 Motion Picture News reported that Bessie Barriscale "has just completed work in The Heart of Rachael."
According to advertisements in the 19 October 1918 Exhibitors Herald and Motography and the 27 December 1918 Variety, The Heart of Rachael was shot at the Robert Brunton Studios at 5341 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, CA, "under the supervision of Robt. Brunton." It was the first of Bessie Barriscale's productions under her own company, following the collapse of Paralta Play, the company that had held her contract and made her previous film, The White Lie (see entry). An item, date-lined 8 September, in the 21 September 1918 Moving Picture World reported that Barriscale officially withdrew from Paralta and assumed control of The Heart of Rachael after filming was completed. Barriscale's director was her husband, Howard Hickman.
In the 10 August 1918 Moving Picture World, a writer named A. H. Giebler visited the set of The Heart of Rachael at Brunton Studios, "one of the most modern and completely equipped studios on the West Coast." Brunton rented studio space to movie producers and offered a full complement of technical talent. "You will find a complete costume department where costumes from kings to beggars may be secured and property rooms that can produce furniture of Louis the Quince, the Grand Rapids, and all intermediate periods," Giebler wrote. The complex also had writers and character actors, if needed. "In fact, all the appurtenances, animate and inanimate, of movie making will be placed at your disposal. For rates apply at ...
An item in the 31 August 1918 Motion Picture News reported that Bessie Barriscale "has just completed work in The Heart of Rachael."
According to advertisements in the 19 October 1918 Exhibitors Herald and Motography and the 27 December 1918 Variety, The Heart of Rachael was shot at the Robert Brunton Studios at 5341 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, CA, "under the supervision of Robt. Brunton." It was the first of Bessie Barriscale's productions under her own company, following the collapse of Paralta Play, the company that had held her contract and made her previous film, The White Lie (see entry). An item, date-lined 8 September, in the 21 September 1918 Moving Picture World reported that Barriscale officially withdrew from Paralta and assumed control of The Heart of Rachael after filming was completed. Barriscale's director was her husband, Howard Hickman.
In the 10 August 1918 Moving Picture World, a writer named A. H. Giebler visited the set of The Heart of Rachael at Brunton Studios, "one of the most modern and completely equipped studios on the West Coast." Brunton rented studio space to movie producers and offered a full complement of technical talent. "You will find a complete costume department where costumes from kings to beggars may be secured and property rooms that can produce furniture of Louis the Quince, the Grand Rapids, and all intermediate periods," Giebler wrote. The complex also had writers and character actors, if needed. "In fact, all the appurtenances, animate and inanimate, of movie making will be placed at your disposal. For rates apply at office." Various actors, such as Sessue Hayakawa and Frank Keenan, had offices at Brunton, "and eight other companies are planning to secure space here." The large complex would eventually become Paramount Studios.
When another Robert Bruton production, Louise Glaum's The Goddess of Lost Lake, couldn't make its 30 September 1918 release date, the 5 October 1918 Exhibitors Herald and Motography reported, The Heart of Rachael was moved up in the schedule to replace it.
Reviews for The Heart of Rachael were uniformly positive. For example, the 30 September 1918 Wid's Daily raved: "It has all the qualifications of a production that should go over with a bang anywhere....It's been a long time since I've seen an offering that checked up so well from every angle as this one does....The lightings, photography and camera work on this were about the most artistic and effective I have ever seen." Wid's Daily reran the review in its 6 October 1918 edition.
According to the Library of Congress American Silent Feature Film Survival Database, this film is extant.
Rachael marries Clarence Breckenridge, whose daughter Billy is only a few years younger than she. Clarence, an alcoholic, is devoted to Billy, but because both father and daughter are indifferent to Rachael, she finally divorces Clarence to wed her old friend, Dr. Warren Gregory. Soon after the marriage, Rachael learns to her distress that Warren is no longer the home-loving man she had befriended, but a social "high-stepper," much like her first husband. Several years pass, during which Billy elopes with Joe Pickering, a worthless pleasure-seeker, which leads Clarence to kill himself. Warren, meanwhile, develops an attachment to Magsie Clay, an actress. Magsie admits to Rachael that she loves Warren, and the young wife agrees to a divorce, but Warren, unwilling to leave Rachael and his children permanently, departs for Europe. When their little son Jim is severely injured, Rachael begs Warren to save the boy, and through this hardship, the couple's love is ...
Rachael marries Clarence Breckenridge, whose daughter Billy is only a few years younger than she. Clarence, an alcoholic, is devoted to Billy, but because both father and daughter are indifferent to Rachael, she finally divorces Clarence to wed her old friend, Dr. Warren Gregory. Soon after the marriage, Rachael learns to her distress that Warren is no longer the home-loving man she had befriended, but a social "high-stepper," much like her first husband. Several years pass, during which Billy elopes with Joe Pickering, a worthless pleasure-seeker, which leads Clarence to kill himself. Warren, meanwhile, develops an attachment to Magsie Clay, an actress. Magsie admits to Rachael that she loves Warren, and the young wife agrees to a divorce, but Warren, unwilling to leave Rachael and his children permanently, departs for Europe. When their little son Jim is severely injured, Rachael begs Warren to save the boy, and through this hardship, the couple's love is renewed.
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