The Lad from Old Ireland (1910) USA/English/Silent/Black & White Director: Sidney Olcott Writer: Gene Gauntier Cast:
Sidney Olcott...Terry O'Connor
Gene Gauntier...Aileene [no photo available] Thomas O'Connor...Murphy - the Landlord
Arthur Donaldson...Parish Priest
J.P. McGowan...Election Agent
Robert G. Vignola...Man in Campaign Office
Jane Wolfe...Elsie Myron - American Heiress [no photo available] Agnes Mapes...Aileene's Mother [no photo available] Laurene Santley
A boy from Ireland comes to America and makes good, but he doesn't forget the poverty he left behind. He returns to rescue his sweetheart just as her family is about to be evicted from their land.
It is the first American film made in two continents. The German intertitles are translated as follows: 1)Farewell heart, son 2)This departing is so difficult, my love 3)Terry arrives in the Land of the Dollar 4)An honest heart and a steady hand always find a place in America 5)The girl he left behind 6)Come back to Ireland 7)10 years later: Terry achieves success in politics 8) Alone 9) Time and distance cloud Terry’s memories of his little girl at home 10) A letter arrives informing Terry of his grandmother's death and that his absence is breaking his girl's heart and beseeches him to come home. The writer of the letter has not told his girl they have written to him. 11) Terry listens to the voice in his heart 12)The unrelenting landlord threatens eviction.
Prolific silent film director Sidney Olcott was the son of Irish immigrants. He started as an actor on the New York stage, and then appeared in films for Mutoscope in 1904, eventually working his way up to general manager of Biograph. Lured away to a rival company, he began to direct features for Kalem by 1907. That year, he became embroiled in a hitherto unprecedented lawsuit (which dragged on for four years), because of his filming of Ben Hur (1907) in disregard of copyright. Publishers and the estate of author Lew Wallace sued Kalem to the tune of $25,000.
In addition to shooting films in Jacksonville, Florida, and Ireland (where Kalem had their studios), he also took his film crews to far-flung overseas locations - becoming the first-ever filmmaker to do so. He went to Egypt and Palestine to film the life of Christ, From the Manger to the Cross; or, Jesus of Nazareth (1912), aka "From the Manger to the Cross", which proved a big money-spinner for Kalem. However, a dispute over Olcott's salary led to his name being removed from the credits and he consequently resigned.
Not out of work for long, he signed with Famous Players Lasky (which later became Paramount) in 1915. Until his retirement in 1927, Olcott directed some of the studio's biggest stars, from Mary Pickford and Gloria Swanson to Norma Talmadge and Rudolph Valentino.
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