By Man's Law (1913) Online

A two-reel number, following in the wake of numerous theatrical productions dealing with the white slave traffic. The story is strong and well pictured; it shows how the oil trust grinds down a family of independent producers, so that the girl eventually is forced to look for work on the street. She is followed by white slavers and dies at the close of the picture. This is rather sordid and pessimistic in type and cannot be called a pleasant story. At the same time it is well constructed and powerful in the emotions it excites. - The Moving Picture World, December 6, 1913

This is a typical-looking Biograph social piece, on the lines of D.W. Griffith's A CORNER IN WHEAT and ONE IS BUSINESS THE OTHER CRIME. Griffith made his pieces in this vein morally ambiguous, preferring to raise questions without coming up with answers in which he himself had little faith. Christy Cabanne takes a much more melodramatic position: the rich *are* evil, the rich *are* hypocritical and the poor and downtrodden will suffer at their hands.

Which is a superior line to take? I admire Griffith's ability to tread that narrow line, to excite questions that are still unanswered -- but for pure story telling, Cabanne's methods are better, particularly given that Biograph's audience was poor and urban -- just the sort that feels oppressed by the rich. And while he only has a few of Griffith's best actors -- Alfred Paget, Bobby Harron and Donald Crisp in particular -- it was a pleasure to recognize an improbably young Alan Hale. He was 21 when this film was released.