The Vampire

The old story of a young man on his way to success and saving his money to marry his sweetheart who meets a woman (the vampire) who wants to live fast. She abandons him when his has run through his savings and lost his job.

He sees the mistake of his ways after viewing the Bert French and Alice Eis Vampire Dance, which may have inspired the movie.

Very well done for a picture of this time.

A sensational dance by Bert French and Alice Eis, which represents in a strangely graphic way a vampire coming out of the woods to destroy a young artist, is featured in this three-part picture. The dance is truly a part of the story, not merely woven in it. Moreover, the story had been carefully done all through and, except in one spot where it seems forced, is human and convincing. Harry Millarde and Marguerite Courtot play two country lovers. Harry is the first to leave the farm, and his course from his early success through his ruin, due to a woman dressed in close fitting silver silk (Alice Hollister), who picks him up in a fashionable restaurant, and his final regeneration after seeing the "Vampire Dance," is shown. The effect of his final meeting with the woman of the white lights seems forced. After he has once more made a man of himself, Harry meets Marguerite again. There is nothing in the offering that is not healthy and commendable and it seems likely to please widely. It is well acted and in photography is, for the most part, above criticism. - The Moving Picture World, November 1, 1913

The best and most meaningful aspect of the film is the Vampire Dance, performed by Alice Eis and Bert French. Mr. French choreographed the dance, based on a poem and a painting. The young man in the film sees the error of his ways by viewing their 'morality tale' dance.

Miss Eis and Mr. French, who were married and had 3 children, were famous vaudeville dancers, performing all over America and Europe. Information about them can be found in the New York Library, The Smithsonian, and The George Eastman House (where the original of this film is kept).

This is a wonderful film, historic in its portrayal of life in the U.S. in 1913, and very funny even when unintentionally so. It was filmed in Florida because there was no big Hollywood as yet. Scenes were often filmed outdoors to use the light; examples of this can be seen during indoor restaurant scenes, where palm trees and waiters' serving towels are waving in the breeze.

You'll have great fun watching this film, especially if you can add appropriate old-fashioned piano music as background. My loving regard for the two dancers results from the fact that they were my maternal grandparents!! Nonetheless, they were ground-breakers of their day. Totally dramatic, and delightful.

Alice Hollister is perhaps a rather matronly 'vampire', chasing after young Harry Millarde and distracting him from new job in the city, and country girlfriend. Still, it is a story we've heard many times before, and which would become a staple in silent cinema.

The city is presented as a hotbed of depravity which can easily suck in even the most virtuous of men, while Hollister portrays the kind of woman gone wrong who preys on young 'uns with ready cash to spend. It isn't surprising that as Millarde becomes embroiled in drink and the pleasures of the night she washes her hands of him.

'The Vampire' is a basic warning with a happy ending as sweetheart Margeurite Courtot goes to the city herself to rescue the man she loves - but there isn't a sticky end for the loose woman herself; cinema would find ways to make them pay in later years.