Her Husband's Faith

Her Husband's Faith
1916 Newspaper Theatre Ad
Directed by	Lloyd B. Carleton
Written by	Paul Machette[1]
Screenplay by	Eugene De Rue[1]
Produced by	Lloyd B. Carleton[2][1]
Starring	Dorothy Davenport Emory Johnson
Production company	Universal[1]
Distributed by	Universal
Release date	May 11, 1916 (1916-May-11)
Running time	2 reels[1]
Country	United States
Language	English intertitles

Her Husband's Faith is a 1916 American silent short film directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on a story by Paul Machette. Eugene De Rue developed the screenplay. This domestic society drama's features Dorothy Davenport, T. D. Crittenden and Emory Johnson.

The story revolves around Richard and Mabel Otto. They are happily married and have a three-year-old son. The couple holds a reception at their home when a drifter shows up at the front door. Suddenly, things start to unravel when the stranger reveals secrets about Mabel's shadowy past. The couple's survival will be based on Richard's faith in his wife.

The film was released on May 11, 1916, by Universal.^[3]

Plot[]

Richard Otto and his wife, Mabel, have a happy home and joyful marriage. They have a little boy of three who is dear to the heart of both parents. Mabel Otto says to her husband Richard: "Five blissful years of marriage, a beautiful home, a tender husband, and a darling baby — surely God has been good to me." Richard and Mabel Otto decide to throw a big reception at their spacious home. The couple sends Invitations and places an announcement in the local newspaper.

We switch scenes and see a drifter named Tom Willis sitting on a park bench. He is reading a newspaper. As he reads his paper, he notices the article regarding Mr. and Mrs. Otto's reception. The notice contains a picture of the blissful couple. Taking a closer look, he recognizes Mabel Otto as somebody from his dark past. He remembers her as his close companion and helper in the underworld. At some point, she left him, and he never saw her again. Seeing Mabel's picture in the newspaper stirs up old emotions. He decides to see if he can win her back again,

Mr. and Mrs. Otto's reception is in full swing. Several guests are doting on the young boy when his bedtime arrives. Mabel takes the boy to his bedroom and puts him to sleep. When she returns to the party, she tells Richard all the tricks the little one had learned. However, the young boy can't get to sleep and rings the bell for his mother. She leaves her guests and, coming to the bedroom, puts the little one to sleep. They inform Richard a caller is waiting to see him. He leaves the reception to greet his guest.

Richard meets Tom Willis and immediately recognizes the man who had once done him a favor. Willis tells Richard he is down on his luck and needs a loan. Willis starts to tell Richard about his past improper relations with a woman in the underground. After describing how deeply in love he was, he states he would do anything to win her back. Richard seems to sympathizes with Willis's story of lost love. Willis then tells Richard the lost love is Mabel. Richard tells Willis, Mabel is happily married, has a son, and a blissful life. He further states why Willis would want to destroy all this. Richard tells Willis that he thinks he should never meet his wife again because of his underworld associates.

During their meeting, Willis had cased the house. He leaves Otto's residence but returns later to steal a valuable necklace. During the attempted robbery, he is confronted by Mrs. Otto and her son. She recognizes Tom from her past life. Richard enters the room in the middle of this confrontation. When Willis glances at Mabel and her son, he decides not to expose her past, and he leaves the premises.

Richard tells Mable the man had asked for money and then concocted some cock-and-bull story about her being a member of the underworld. Richard says he never believed Willis and believed in his wife's version of her past. The tense last scene has a happy ending. Her husband's faith in his wife's version of the story prevailed.

Cast[]

Actor	Role
Dorothy Davenport	Mabel Otto
Emory Johnson	Richard Otto
Trookwood D. Crittenden	Tom Willis
Frankie Lee	Otto's 3-year-old son

Production[]

Development[]

According to the book - The Universal Story, Carl Laemmle (c. 1867-1939) produced around 91 movies in 1916.^[4] Lloyd B. Carleton (c. 1872–1933) started working for Carl Laemmle in the Fall of 1915.^[5] Carleton arrived with impeccable credentials, having directed some 60 films for the likes of Thanhouser, Lubin, Fox, and Selig.^[6] Between March and December 1916, 44-year-old Lloyd Carleton directed 16 movies for Universal, starting with The Yaqui and ending with The Morals of Hilda. Emory Johnson acted in all 16 of these films. Of Carleton's total 1916 output, 11 were feature films, and the rest were two-reel shorts.
In 1916, Carleton directed 13 films pairing Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson. This film would be the second in the 13-film series. These totals show Carl Laemmle was clearly giving the Davenport-Johnson pairing one of his elite directors from the working cadre of universal directors to produce the screen chemistry Laemmle was seeking.

Casting[]

• Dorothy Davenport (1895-1977) was an established star for Universal when the 21 year-old actress played Mabel Otto. She had acted in hundreds of movies by the time she starred in this film. The majority of these films were 2-reel shorts, as was the norm in Hollywood's teen years. She had been making movies since 1910. She started dating Wally Reid when she was barely 16, and he was 20. They married in 1913. After her husband died in 1923, she used the name "Mrs. Wallace Reid" in the credits for any project she took part in.^[7] Besides being an actress, she would eventually become a film director, producer, and writer.^[8]
  
• Emory Johnson (1894-1960) was 22 years old when he acted in this movie as Richard Otto. In January 1916, Emory signed a contract with Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Carl Laemmle of Universal Film Manufacturing Company thought he saw great potential in Johnson, so he chooses him to be Universal's new leading man. Laemmle's hope was Johnson would become another Wallace Reed. A major part of his plan was to create a movie couple that would sizzle on the silver screen. Laemmle thought Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson could create the chemistry he sought. Johnson and Davenport would complete 13 films together. They started with the successful feature production of Doctor Neighbor in May 1916 and ended with The Devil's Bondwoman in November 1916. After completing the last movie, Laemmle thought Johnson did not have the screen presence he wanted. He decided not to renew his contract.^[9][8] Johnson would make 17 movies in 1916, including 6 shorts and 11 feature-length Dramas. 1916 would become the second-highest movie output of his entire acting career. Emory acted in 25 films for Universal, mostly dramas with a sprinkling of comedies and westerns.
  
• Frankie Lee (1911-1970) was 4-years-old when he appeared in this film. This would be the second film he performed in. He made his acting debut in the 1916 Universal production of "Her Greatest Story." This was his acting debut with Emory Johnson. They would unite again at the end of 1916 in The Right to Be Happy. He would make an appearance in the 1922 Emory Johnson-directed picture The Third Alarm. Frankie was also the older brother of Davey Lee, another child actor. Frankie made his last film appearance in 1925's The Golden Strain which starred Hobart Bosworth and Madge Bellamy. He appeared in 56 films between 1916 and 1925.
  
• T. D. Crittenden (1878-1938) was 37 years-old when he played the heavy, Tom Willis. He appeared in 69 films between 1912 and 1924, and he made 22 movies in 1916, of which 5 were features.

Screenplay[]

Eugene De Rue developed the screenplay (1885-1985)^[10] based on a story by Paul Machette (1874–1927).^[11] Both writers were actors and directors.

Filming[]

There is no published record of when filming began. An item published in the Motion Picture News on April 22, 1916, stated:

"The Lloyd B. Carleton Company has just completed the filming of "Her Husband's Faith."^[12]

This announcement is consistent with the film's release date of May 11, 1916.

The movie was filmed in the studio complex at Universal Studios located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California.^{[citation needed]}

Alternate title[]

This article uses first-person ("I"; "we") or second-person ("you") inappropriately. Please to use a more formal, encyclopedic tone. (September 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Using cast, length, plot, producer, release date, and title of "Her Husband's Faith" as a reference point, there are some similar films described under different titles.

In the June 1915 issue of Kalem Kalendar, we see a brief review of "Her Husband's Honor" released by Kalem on June 7, 1915. The short film stars Henry Pemberton and Elsie McLeod. The plot involves a women's desire for adventure leads to the smuggling of diamonds.^[13] We see the same listing on the IMDb database.^[14] There is no listing of any copyright filed for this film.

In the May 13, 1916, issue of Motography listed under "Universal Programs," we see a brief review of "Her Husband's Honor." The cast, length, plot, producer, and release date are correct when measured against our reference film, except the title is incorrect.^[15] The same issue of Motography also lists under the heading "Complete Record of Current Films," a correct film Length, Producer, Release Date, and Title. No Cast or plot is shown.^[16]

In the May 13, 1916, issue of Moving Picture World, we see an identical listing to the Motography review, i.e., the cast, length, plot, producer, and release date are correct when measured against our reference film, except for the incorrect title of "Her Husband's Honor.".^[17]

In the May 20, 1916 issue of Motography, under "Universal Programs, we see an amended listing of "Her Husband's Honor." This review shows a short film featuring Ben Wilson and Dorothy Phillips with a release date of May 18, 1916. This Rex produced film has a plot of a lawyer's wife attempting to sell valuable documents.^[18] There is no listing of any copyright filed for this film.

However, we see a new listing of "A Wife at Bay." This short film stars Ben Wilson and Dorothy Phillips with a release date of May 20, 1916, by Rex Motion Picture Company (Note: Rex is one of the companies that merged with Universal in 1912). The plot involves a lawyer's wife attempting to sell valuable documents.^[19] This film has a listing on the IMDb^[20] and a copyright^[21] This film is identical to the Motography listing of "Her Husband's Honor."

Lastly, Her Husband's Honor was a feature film released by Mutual Film on August 5, 1918, and involved a frivolous socialite entangled in shady business dealings. It starred David Powell and Edna Goodrich. There is a IMDb listing.^[22] and a copyright was filed.^[23]

Advertising[]

In 1915, short films were shown in conjunction with other short films to create a "diversified program", and typically advertised only with a short synopsis. A newspaper ad^{[citation needed]} shows Her Husband's Faith playing along with two short comedies:

• Victor Potel starring in When a Wife Worries (1916) at IMDb.
• Frank E. McNish starring in Rupert's Rube Relation (1916) at IMDb.

Reviews[]

In the May 13, 1916 issue of the Motion Picture News, a reviewer opines:^[24]

Emory Johnson, Dorothy Davenport, and Trockwood Crittenden are the leads in this averagely strong release. Miss Davenport adds much to the picture. Lloyd B. Carleton directed.

In the June 3, 1916, issue of the The Wilmington Morning Star, an article reads:^[25]

Dorothy Davenport makes her first reappearance in Universal Picture's great two real hard-throbbing dramatic master picture, "Her Husband's Faith" costarring with Emery Johnson. "Her Husband's Faith" is one of the deepest emotional, dramatic gems of the entire week. There is the tremor of expectancy at different periods as you hope the differences will be settled; there is that pathos that marks the true dramatic gem all the way through the two reels, with beautiful Dorothy Davenport, more fascinating and lovable than ever and one of her strongest emotional roles.

In the June 13, 1916, issue of the The Tampa Tribune, an article says:^[26]

Dorothy Davenport, starring in Her Husband's Faith, gives an unusually brilliant performance as a wife with the past that confronts her after she thought it lived down. Confronted by her old lover of the underworld and her husband, she successfully holds the affections of the latter and brings a thrilling scene to a happy ending.

Preservation status[]

Since no records detail this film's status, it is presumed all copies of this film are lost.

Gallery[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Her Husband's Faith.

• Katchmer, George A. A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses, McFarland, 2002, p. 204.
• Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996.
• List of Universal Pictures films (1912–1919)
• Universal Pictures
• List of American films of 1916