The Little Minister

The town of Thrums in Scotland is in an uproar. The weavers' wages have been cut and they're meeting and rioting because of it. The local nobleman, Edwin Stevens, controls the wages and he has no intention of doing so. Instead he's sent the local army regiment (who wear full dress uniform on all occasions) to capture the gypsy girl, Betty Compson, who has been distributing food to the poor and helping the leaders escape -- with the unwitting collusion of George Hackathorne, the new minister, who has fallen in love with the wild creature. The gossipy Church elders are aghast. None of these men know that she's really Lady Barbara, daughter of Edwin Stevens, playing dress up and enjoying the liberty of being a despised creature.

The movie glides along its plot rapidly, propelled by the J.M. Barrie story, a little too abruptly for my taste at a mere hour in length. However the director is Penrhyn Stanlaws. He rose to prominence as an illustrator; among his models were Mabel Normand and Florence Labadie, There's certainly evidence of the film to show that he had a fine eye for beauty, not only of the feminine variety, but of outdoor scenery and group compositions.

Although I prefer versions like the Katherine Hepburn movie of the 1930s, this one is good to watch and talky enough with its many titles in standard English. It's worthwhile for the visuals, even if the story is reduced to its outlines.

Betty Compson stars as the Gypsy girl known as Babbie. She incurs the wrath of Lord Rintoul when it's suspected she has warned the riotous weavers that the police have been called. The local weavers are incensed that Rintoul has lowered their wages. The innocent new minister (George Hackathorne) gets involved after meeting Babbie by chance in the woods where he is writing his sermon. His infatuation with the wild beauty incurs the wrath of the local town council but he refuses to help entrap her. Will love prevail? Long thought lost, a print was found in a European archive and its intertitles have been translated into English. This was an important starring film for Betty Compson. It's interesting to see the role reversal with Compson playing the disguised hero and Hackathorne the young innocent. Compson is, as always, fascinating to watch.