''The Menace to Carlotta'' is a 1914 American silent short

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Allan Dwan and featuring Pauline Bush, William C. Dowlan, Murdock MacQuarrie and

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

. It was banned by the censor of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

on March 19, 1914. The film is now considered lost. Chaney also wrote the film's scenario (his first known screenwriting credit). The film's original working title was ''Carlotta, the Bead Stringer''.

Plot

Carlotta's fiancé Giovanni Bartholdi (Chaney) loses his money gambling with a shady character called "The Vulture" and, now penniless, moves in with Carlotta and her father and brother Tony. The Vulture talks Giovanni into luring Carlotta to a lonely dive one night, where she is to be kidnapped and sold into the white slave trade. She is saved however by her father and brother.

Cast

as Giovanni Bartholdi * Pauline Bush as Carlotta * William C. Dowlan as Carlotta's brother, Tony * Murdock MacQuarrie as Carlotta's father * John Burton as The Vulture

Reception

"Motion Picture News" wrote "The fight between Giovanni and the old father is very realistic, almost too much so." "Moving Picture World" wrote ""A one-reel (sic) offering by Lou (sic) Chaney, who plays the villain's part...The Italian characterizations are good and the setting's in keeping...The photography is fair." (Note the review refers to the film as a "one-reel offering", while reference sources list it as two reels in length. The same reviewer however also misspelled Chaney's first name).

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Menace to Carlotta, The 1914 films 1914 drama films 1914 short films Silent American drama films American silent short films American black-and-white films Films directed by Allan Dwan Lost American films Universal Pictures short films 1914 lost films Lost drama films 1910s American films