''Everybody's Girl'' is a 1918 American silent

comedy drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

directed by

Tom Terriss Thomas Herbert F. Lewin (28 September 1872 – 8 February 1964), known professionally as Tom Terriss, was a British actor, screenwriter, and film director. After trying various occupations, he became an actor playing a variety of roles, beginni ...

and written by Van Powell. The film stars Alice Joyce, May Hopkins, and

Walter McGrail Walter B. McGrail (October 19, 1888 – March 19, 1970) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 150 films between 1916 and 1951. Besides feature films, he appeared in ''The Scarlet Runner'', a 12-chapter serial. McGrail was born in ...

Cast list

Plot

Florence and her roommate, Ella, work trimming hats, and live in a flat on Brick Dust Row. Because of his stinginess, their rich landlord has taken away the girls' parlor in order to rent it out to a business. Due to this fact, the two women could not entertain young men in their apartment, so they would meet them in the park. During one of their outings, they go on the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a fare-free passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the Boroughs of New York City, New York City boroughs of Manh ...

, where they meet Blinker, a rich man who has taken the ferry to get away from his regular group of friends. Florence and Blinker hit it off, and she agrees to meet him again. One night, a local tough, Bill gets into a fight where he uses his gun to get out of it. Fleeing from the police, he ends up in Florence and Ella's room, although Ella is out. At first, Florence is quite scared, but Bill calms her and eventually earns her trust. When the police do get around to searching Florence's building, she tells them that Bill is her brother and he has been with her all evening, earning his gratitude. Bill becomes the girls' protector, looking after them to make sure nothing bad happens to them. Additionally, he begins to have an emotional relationship with Ella. When Florence goes to meet Blinker again on the ferry, Bill is following, to keep watch over her. While on the ferry, Blinker presses Florence to know more about her past. She admits to meeting men in the park, which shocks Blinker's sensibilities. He is about to let her down easy, when the boat catches fire. Florence jumps overboard, and Blinker dives in after her to save her. They are both in danger of drowning when Bill arrives and saves the both of them. When they get to shore, Blinker leaves, and Florence is distraught, feeling that she has lost the only man she has ever loved. Bill goes to Blinker, and explains what a true and honest woman she is. He convinces Blinker, who reunites with Florence.

Production

Some of the exteriors for the film were shot along the coast of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. The interiors of the film were shot at the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

studios of

Vitagraph Vitagraph Studios, also known as the Vitagraph Company of America, was a United States motion picture studio. It was founded by J. Stuart Blackton and Albert E. Smith in 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, as the American Vitagraph Company. By 1907 ...

Reception

'' The Eugene Guard'' gave the film a positive review, calling the movie one of Alice Joyce's "most delightful pictures", with "beautiful exteriors". '' The York Daily Record'' also enjoyed the film, stating, "A delightful love story, with just enough action, and an ending that will please everyone." They also felt it was one of the best films of Joyce's career. "A story of the tenements that hasn't an unpleasant moment", was how the ''

South Bend Tribune The ''South Bend Tribune'' is a daily newspaper and news website which is based in South Bend, Indiana. It is distributed in South Bend, Mishawaka, north central Indiana, and southwestern Michigan. It has been named as a "Blue Ribbon Newspaper ...

'' characterized the film, saying that it is "a story that will appeal to the working girl as well as anyone interested in certain aspects of city life." The

Nashville Banner The ''Nashville Banner'' is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998. The ''Banner'' was published each Monday through Friday afternoon (as well as Saturdays unt ...

stated, that in the film "Alice Joyce in one of the most delightful love stories in her screen career. She never looked more beautiful or acted with greater naturalness and appeal than as Florence, the little hat trimmer, who is Everybody's Girl." They felt the screen adaption of O. Henry's story lost none of the charm of the original short story. '' Wid's Daily'' also gave the film a good review, "This surely registers as decidely pleasing entertainment that should go over with a bang anywhere. They have taken several well-known situations in this and built them into a human, delightful romantic offering that makes you feel good all over." They commended the direction of Terris, saying that he "made characters seem real and got the most out of every situation with many excellent touches registered." They also complimented the story and acting, particularly that of the supporting cast, whom they called, "excellent".

References

{{Tom Terriss American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1918 films Films directed by Tom Terriss 1918 comedy-drama films 1910s English-language films 1910s American films Silent American comedy-drama films English-language comedy-drama films