Rosie O'Grady

Highly interesting as a character study and for artistry of presentation, "Rosie O'Grady" depends heavily upon the exceptional performance of Viola Dana and her admirable support. With no great amount of opportunity, Miss Dana infuses her role with such decided personality that her interpretation surpasses any work she has hitherto done. She shows a decided improvement over anything she accomplished in the company with which she was long associated, possibly from that clearer conception of what is to be done which comes only through ripened experience as an interpreter of screen stories. She puts life and feeling into a role that is almost colorless by itself in the worn- out story of the innocent girl betrayed under promise of marriage. In this effort she is happily seconded by an admirably chosen support and well-chosen settings. To the director goes high praise for the effects accomplished by artistry of light and shade, of emphasis and contrast, and for much that makes the releases of value, and to him must be debited its faults. Naturally romantic, he has attempted realism of a story of the "East Side" of New York, but the characters he presents are not of that locality to-day, nor do little girls go into bar rooms for a can of beer, that is theatrical, not realistic. There are other little errors of minor importance, completely overshadowed by his romantic handling of a supposed realistic drama. Director Collins has not yet found the medium he deserves, but he is showing what he could do with it if he had the chance. He has made a rather commonplace story interesting, sympathetically so, and that is what will serve to make it popular. – The Moving Picture World, February 17, 1917