The Pawns of Destiny

It is a convincingly told tale of those in humble circumstances, of struggle on the part of a man, of love which she dared not reveal on the part of a little slavey, of her bravery in rescuing from death this man, of her self-sacrifice and self-abnegation in supporting a blind man. and of his self-renunciation in turn when she refuses to permit an officious landlady to force a marriage of a man incapable of supporting even himself on to a woman in spite of her willingness. There is deep human appeal throughout; in the second reel especially there is a pull on the heartstrings that to some may be at times uncomfortable. It is all a pretty story and an absorbing one. It is well staged. One of the most effective settings is the operating room and the showing of the surgeons at work in the single shaft of light that pierces the absolute darkness. The elaborate kitchen will interest the feminine side of any house. It is a detail, but not a minor one. The fire in the big tenement house, with the fleeing tenants and the entering firemen, is vividly portrayed. Charles Craig, who plays Gordon, is excellent in his characterization. It will be noticed that in Miss Lawrence's interpretation of the slavey there is an absence of the lightness of foot which is one of her characteristics; in its stead there is the stiff-jointed gait of the drudge. - The Moving Picture World, May 2, 1914