The Girl and the Judge

It would be hard to think up a human situation more effective dramatically than this and it has been well developed by Lara Parker as author and director. It is one of the best stories in some time, just as it is; but if he had made it into two reels and explained it more in detail, it might have been even better. Yet perhaps the fact that we are left to wonder as to many things rather than being told in so many gestures or subtitles, is the thing that holds us. In quality, it is a feature offering, a strong, substantial picture, well acted for the most part, clearly photographed and gripping; there is a vital glimpse of life underneath it that all will recognize. Kathlyn Williams plays a girl who has been deceived by a judge's son (Herbert Rawlinson) and has been deserted by him. In poverty, she is taken up on the street (for what, isn't made clear) and arranged before the boy's father (Hobart Bosworth), who reprimands her and sets her free. The boy has escaped; she doesn't even know his right name; but, by chance, asks for employment in the judge's home. Next morning she is waiting on the table; but before the boy comes down, the judge recognizes her, and this leads to two strong scenes, one in the library, one in the hall, where the boy meets her. Eugenie Besserer and Gertrude Arnold play the boy's mother and sister. - The Moving Picture World, June 14, 1913