The Usurer's Grip

Usurer's Grip, The (1912)

*** (out of 4)

Edison short tells the danger of going to a loan shark. A poor couple (Walter Edwin, Gertrude McCoy) is at the end of the line because their young daughter is ill and dying so they go to a loan shark (Charles Ogle) but this ends up hurting them even more. This short plays out like a lot of the films D.W. Griffith was making at the time as it is very sympathetic to the poor while coming down hard on those who take advantage of them. This movie certainly comes off quite melodramatic at times but the story is still very good. What really sets this short apart is the terrific acting from the three leads. Edwin is terrific as the father but it's Ogle who really steals the film as the loan shark. Most will remember Ogle from playing the monster in Edison's 1910 version of Frankenstein but he is quite a figure here. I was also taken by his physical nature, which is a lot different than what we saw two years earlier in Frankenstein.

This Edison Company film production is part of a collection entitled "American Film Archives: Vol. 3: Disc 1". The DVDs deal specifically with American short films that deal with various social issues. These are the sort of films that usually would be forgotten or lost had it not been for some film preservationists work. Now this set certainly isn't for everyone, as the content is a bit dry. However, for history teachers (like myself) and cinemaniacs (again, that would be me), it's an invaluable set. As the films are all silent, they actually are very watchable along with the optional audio commentary--which gives nice background information.

THE USURER'S GRIP is, not surprisingly, a film decrying the evil of usurers--people who charge ridiculously high (and illegal) interest rates for loans. A family is in need of some extra money. They see an ad promising low-interest loans and easy payment plans. However, after taking out this loan, the family finds they've been conned and are unable to make their payments. A female employee of the usurer shows up at the poor man's job to bawl him out and ruins his reputation in front of his boss. The result of this is that the employee is fired--and falls even further behind on the loan! Then a "trailer" is then hired to follow the man to his next job and the lady comes once again to bawl him out and hound him--making it impossible to pay the loan when he could get fired again. However, the new boss is a swell fella and helps the man get a low-interest loan to pay off the original loan. In the meantime, however, the loan shark arrives at the same time at the man's house and the wife watches as they cart away his furniture--even the bed where his sick child is sleeping! What are they to do?! Well, see it for yourself to find out if the family can be saved.

Overall, not a particularly fun film to watch but an important film historically. Probably NOT a film for the casual viewer, however.

Walter Edwin is a hard-up family man who unwisely borrows money from a loan shark and soon finds himself in dire straits. An entertaining cautionary tale which highlights the underhanded techniques of the usurer, such as using a "bawler-out" to embarass the loanee at his workplace, and a "trailer" to take note of when the usurer's victim finds a new job. Walter Edwin does a good job of maintaining his character's dignity despite the pressures he is under.

Edison had a good line of socially conscious features at this point, often produced by some other organization. Here with the Edison Company -- most notably Charles Ogle as the usurer -- we see a 'typical' case of the victims of usury. Although offered as a 'realistic' view of the effects of usury, it veers frequently into melodrama. It also, unlike Griffith's work at Biograph, purports to offer a viable alternative. Well, it can, but it requires a lot of effort, intelligence and goodwill, like the modern use of 'micro-loans' in Third World countries.

At this stage, Edison still had its own editing and story-telling techniques. Notice the shortage of title cards and their prolixity when they do appear.