The Unattainable

For the comedy play, see W. Somerset Maugham on stage and screen.

The Unattainable
Moving Picture Weekly Ad
Directed by	Lloyd B. Carleton
Screenplay by	Eugene B. Lewis
Story by	Elwood D. Henning
Produced by	Universal Bluebird Photoplays
Starring	Emory Johnson Dorothy Davenport
Cinematography	Roy H. Klaffki
Production company	Universal
Distributed by	Universal
Release date	September 4, 1916 (1916-September-04)
Running time	50–75 minutes (5 reels)
Country	United States
Language	English intertitles

The Unattainable is a 1916 American Black and White silent drama directed by Lloyd B. Carleton. The film is based on the story by Elwood D. Henning. The photoplay stars Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson.

The film opens by introducing us to Bessie Gale, a regular on the New York nightclub scene. In her circle, she's known as "the unattainable". A wealthy gentleman starts to pursue her. She finds relief from his romantic pursuits by joining a traveling theatrical company. The troupe heads out West. After Bessie misses a train connection, she meets a sheep rancher, and they get married. Then, her husband makes a major discovery which leads to a new series of adventures.

The film was released on September 4, 1916, by Universal

Plot

NYC nightlife

Bessie Gale is a well-known chorus girl in the New York cabaret and theater scene. Her friends lovingly nicknamed her "The Unattainable." Through the years, she has acquired the reputation for being unapproachable to potential suitors. Henry Morton is wealthy individual who also frequents the club scene. Morton, upon meeting Bessie, begins his pursuit to win her heart.

Seeking relief from the club scene and her wealthy pursuer, Bessie joins a traveling theatrical troupe. She boards the train with the rest of the performers and heads west. The train carrying the performers stops at a way station in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The stunning scenery surrounding the train amazes Bessie. She gets off the train to enjoy the view. As she takes in the breathtaking landscapes, she wanders too far and misses the departing train.

Robert and Bessie

Bessie asks the locals for assistance in finding shelter for the night. She attracts the attention of Robert Goodman and his mother. They recognize her situation and offer her a place to stay for the night. Eagerly, she accepts, and they head to the Goodman's sheep ranch. She informs the Goodmans that she intends to catch tomorrow's train and join her theater group. The following day, they returned to the way station. The train arrives on time, bearing a message from the manager of the stock company. According to the message, Bessie has lost her job because she failed to board the train with her coworkers yesterday. The Goodman offers comfort, assuring her that she can stay on the ranch for as long as she wants until she figures out her next moves. While staying on the ranch, Bessie makes a strong impression on Robert's mother, and Robert falls in love. Over time, Robert proposes to Bassie, and she accepts. They get married and start a peaceful life on the Goodman's sheep ranch. Bessie embraces a new life as a sheepherder's wife, leaving her past behind.

The Goodman family faces a crisis as their sheep begin to die unexpectedly. Robert traces the cause of death to the sheep eating a poisonous weed. Through hard work, Robert successfully creates a cure for the infected sheep. Unexpectedly, his recent remedy has a lucrative market. A New York company is willing to purchase the formula for a significant amount. After the agreements are finalized, the drug company asks Robert to travel to New York to sign papers and receive his royalty check. In order to avoid leaving his sheep unattended, Robert asks his mother to go instead. As she's getting ready to leave for New York, she slips and injures herself. In a last-minute decision, Robert asks if Bessie can go to New York in place of his mother. Bessie agrees to make the trip and heads to New York. After arriving, she signs the paperwork and collects the royalty check. Prior to leaving New York, she feels an inexplicable pull to revisit her old haunts.

Robert confronts Henry

Transfusion room

The allure of her former glamorous life as a chorus girl pulls her back. She starts to return to her old way of life. Her previous theater manager offers her a job. Henry Morton resurfaces after getting wind of Bessie's comeback on the circuit and continues his quest for the Unattainable. Through their exchange of letters, Robert learns that Bessie has made a return to the stage and is now performing in New York. He makes a sudden decision to travel to New York without informing anyone. Without delay, he begins searching for his wife. Robert catches Bessie and Henry on a romantic dinner date. Filled with rage and anger, Goodman brutally assaults Morton. As the two men fight, Morton pulls out a gun and shoots Robert. Bleeding heavily, Goodman is rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

Emotionally, Morton is overwhelmed by the guilt of his actions towards Goodman. Morton hurries to the hospital and offers to give blood in order to save Goodman's life. Unfortunately, Morton has the wrong blood type. Bessie becomes consumed by emotion as she watches her husband's life fade away. She takes a blood test, and the results match. Bessie is prepared for the procedure, and the transfusion starts. Robert gradually begins to regain his health. Once Robert's strength returns, he sees Bessie lying beside him on the table. Rising to his feet, he quickly heads over to her. They share a warm and loving embrace. After they have regained their health, they go back to the Goodman's sheep farm in Peace Valley. They live happily ever after.

Cast

Actor	Role
Dorothy Davenport	Bessie Gale
Emory Johnson	Robert Goodman
Mattie Witting	Mrs. Goodman
Richard Morris	Henry Morton
Alfred Allen	Theatre Manager

Production

Pre-production

Carl Laemmle in 1918

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Universal Logo 1915

In the book, "American Cinema's Transitional Era," the authors point out, The years between 1908 and 1917 witnessed what may have been the most significant transformation in American film history. During this "transitional era", widespread changes affected film form and film genres, filmmaking practices and industry structure, exhibition sites, and audience demographics. One aspect of this transition was the longer duration of films. Feature films were slowly becoming the standard fare for Hollywood producers. Before 1913, you could count the yearly features on two hands. Between 1915 and 1916, the number of feature movies rose 2+1⁄2 times or from 342 films to 835. There was a recurring claim that Carl Laemmle was the longest-running studio chief resisting the production of feature films. Universal was not ready to downsize its short film business because short films were cheaper, faster, and more profitable to produce than feature films.

Laemmle would continue to buck this trend while slowly increasing his output of features. In 1914, Laemmle published an essay titled - Doom of long Features Predicted. In 1916, Laemmle ran an advertisement extolling Bluebird films while adding the following vocabulary on the top of the ad. Carl Laemmle released 91 feature-length films in 1916, as stated in Clive Hirschhorn's book, The Universal Story.

Casting

• Dorothy Davenport (1895–1977) was an established star for Universal when the 21 year-old actress played Bessie Gale. This feature would be Davenport's introduction to the Bluebird program. She had acted in hundreds of movies by the time she starred in this film. The majority of these films were 2-reel shorts, as was the norm in Hollywood's teen years. She had been making movies since 1910. She started dating Wally Reid when she was barely 16, and he was 20. They married in 1913. After her husband died in 1923, she used the name "Mrs. Wallace Reid" in the credits for any project she took part in. Besides being an actress, she would eventually become a film director, producer, and writer.
• Emory Johnson (1894–1960) was 22 years old when he acted in this movie as Robert Goodman. This feature would be Johnson's introduction to the Bluebird program. In January 1916, Emory signed a contract with Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Carl Laemmle of Universal Film Manufacturing Company thought he saw great potential in Johnson, so he chooses him to be Universal's new leading man. Laemmle's hope was Johnson would become another Wallace Reed. A major part of his plan was to create a movie couple that would sizzle on the silver screen. Laemmle thought Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson could create the chemistry he sought. Johnson and Davenport would complete 13 films together. They started with the successful feature production of Doctor Neighbor in May 1916 and ended with The Devil's Bondwoman in November 1916. After completing the last movie, Laemmle thought Johnson did not have the screen presence he wanted. He decided not to renew his contract. Johnson would make 17 movies in 1916, including 6 shorts and 11 feature-length Dramas. 1916 would become the second-highest movie output of his entire acting career. Emory acted in 25 films for Universal, mostly dramas with a sprinkling of comedies and westerns.
• Richard Morris (1862–1924) was a 54 year-old actor when he played Henry Morton. He was a character actor and former opera singer known for Granny (1913). He would eventually participate in many Johnson projects, including |In the Name of the Law (1922), The Third Alarm (1922), The West~Bound Limited (1923), The Mailman (1923) until his untimely death in 1924.
• Alfred Allen (1866–1947) was 50 years old when he was selected to play Theatre Manager. Allen was highly educated, had a commanding presence and stood six feet tall, and weighed two hundred pounds. He got his start in the film industry at Universal city in 1913. He landed his first role in 1915. His roles were character parts, and he played mostly fathers, villains, or ranch owners. Alfred Allen appeared in 69 features from 1916 through 1929. After Heartaches he would appear in four more Davenport-Johnson projects: A Yoke of Gold, The Unattainable, The Human Gamble, and Barriers of Society.

Director

Director
Lloyd B. Carleton

Lloyd B. Carleton (c. 1872–1933) started working for Carl Laemmle in the Fall of 1915. Carleton arrived with impeccable credentials, having directed some 60 films for the likes of Thanhouser, Lubin, Fox, and Selig.

Between March and December 1916, 44-year-old Lloyd Carleton directed 16 movies for Universal, starting with The Yaqui and ending with The Morals of Hilda. Emory Johnson acted in all 16 of these films. Of Carleton's total 1916 output, 11 were feature films, and the rest were two-reel shorts.

Carleton was given the task by Carl Laemmle to determine if the Davenport-Johnson duo had the desired on-screen chemistry. In 1916, Carleton directed 13 films pairing Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson. This film would be the ninth in the 13-film series.

◆   The Davenport–Johnson searching for chemistry in 1916   ◆
Title	Released	Director	Davenport role	Johnson role	Type	Time	LOC	Brand	Notes
Doctor Neighbor	May-1	L. B. Carleton	Hazel Rogers	Hamilton Powers	Drama	Feature	Lost	Red Feather
Her Husband's Faith	May-11	L. B. Carleton	Mabel Otto	Richard Otto	Drama	Short	Lost	Laemmle
Heartaches	May-18	L. B. Carleton	Virginia Payne	S Jackson Hunt	Drama	Short	Lost	Laemmle
Two Mothers	Jun-01	L. B. Carleton	Violetta Andree	2nd Husband	Drama	Short	Lost	Laemmle
Her Soul's Song	Jun-15	L. B. Carleton	Mary Salsbury	Paul Chandos	Drama	Short	Lost	Laemmle
The Way of The World	Jul-03	L. B. Carleton	Beatrice Farley	Walter Croyden	Drama	Feature	Lost	Red Feather
No. 16 Martin Street	Jul-13	L. B. Carleton	Cleo	Jacques Fournier	Drama	Short	Lost	Laemmle
A Yoke of Gold	Aug-14	L. B. Carleton	Carmen	Jose Garcia	Drama	Feature	Lost	Red Feather
The Unattainable	Sep-04	L. B. Carleton	Bessie Gale	Robert Goodman	Drama	Feature	1 of 5 reels	Bluebird
Black Friday	Sep-18	L. B. Carleton	Elionor Rossitor	Charles Dalton	Drama	Feature	Lost	Red Feather
The Human Gamble	Oct-08	L. B. Carleton	Flavia Hill	Charles Hill	Drama	Short	Lost	Laemmle
Barriers of Society	Oct-10	L. B. Carleton	Martha Gorham	Westie Phillips	Drama	Feature	1 of 5 reels	Red Feather
The Devil's Bondwoman	Nov-11	L. B. Carleton	Beverly Hope	Mason Van Horton	Drama	Feature	Lost	Red Feather

Screenplay

This film is based on a story by Elwood D. Henning. Eugene B. Lewis (1878–1924) created the screen adaptation for this film.

Filming

Exteriors

To capture the rustic atmosphere called for in the film, director Lloyd Carleton's company paid a visit to a big sheep ranch located near Los Angeles, California. The ranch was located in the northwestern San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles. The surrounding area provided one of several ideal backgrounds for the film. Hence, broad segments of the film's exteriors were shot in Chatsworth Park, California. Another area ideally suited for background footage was the Sierra Nevada Mountains located in the state of Nevada.

The beginning scenes of the film stand out because they showcase over 3,000 sheep filmed at Chatsworth Park ranch in California.

The blood transfusion procedure in the hospital scene is portrayed realistically and follows the correct protocols. Universal City's state-of-the-art hospital was the location for shooting the transfusion scenes.

Interiors

On March 15, 1915, Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios. The interiors were filmed in the studio complex at Universal City, California.

Working title

During the production of films, a project must have a way to be referenced. The project is given a working title. An Alternate title is another term for a Working Title. Frequently, the working title turns into the release title.

During this film's development, the working title was listed as - The Miracle of Love.

Post production

The theatrical release of this film totaled five reels or 5,000 feet of film. As is often the case, the listed time for this feature-length movie varies. The average time per 1,000-foot 35mm reel varied between ten and fifteen minutes per reel at the time. Thus, the total time for this movie is computed between fifty and seventy-five minutes.

Release and reception

Official release

The copyright was filed with U.S. Copyright Office on August 10, 1916. and entered in the record as shown:

The official film release date to US theaters was September 4, 1916.

Advertising

Advertising plays a vital role in ensuring a movie's success by bringing paying customers to the theater. By providing details about plotlines, actors, release dates, and other key information, a successful marketing campaign boosts excitement among potential stakeholders. This knowledge empowered theater owners to make smarter booking decisions in a competitive market. In addition to an advertising campaign for a movie, Carl Laemmle added another wrinkle to assist potential stakeholders in deciding to view or book a new film.

In 1916, Universal became the first Hollywood studio to classify feature films based on production cost. One of the reasons behind this move was that the "Big Five" film studios owned their own movie houses, enabling them to have guaranteed outlets for their entertainment products. Unlike the majors, Universal did not own any theaters or theater chains. Branding all Universal-produced feature films would give theater owners another tool to judge the films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see.

In 1916, Universal produced 91 branded feature films, consisting of 44 Bluebirds and 47 Red Feather productions. This film carried the designation of Universal's "Bluebird" brand. The branding system had a brief existence and, by 1920, had faded away.

Burton Rice posters

Burton Rice at work 1916

Rice poster for this movie

Movie posters are a specific form of poster art that advertises a certain film. Advertising movies in magazines can be an effective way to appeal to a viewership and theater owners. The Bluebird Photoplay ads signaled the start of a new period of creativity in the movie ad industry. Chicago graphic artist Burton Rice became part of the Universal advertising department. He was 21 years of age.

Chicago lost one of its cleverest younger artists when the advertising department of the Universal home office induced Burton Rice to take up his residence in New York and be one of its staff. Mr. Rice's work in modern art has been among the notable achievements of Chicago's commercial art circles. His poster designs especially have been the cause of much favorable comment. Although always a creative department and the home of much unique ad copy, the Universal advertising department is now turning out its best work—and it is of the kind which compels attention. In Mr. Rice, Nat G. Rothstein and Ray Cavanaugh find a most capable co-worker.
— Motography - February 19, 1916, Burton Rice Now Universal Artist,

Most of Universal's 1916 bluebird advertisements featured Rice's abstract poster art and his inserts gathered worldwide attention. His brief tenure ended in December 1916, when he set sail for Europe to become an Ambulance driver in World War I. Media related to Category:Art works by Burton Rice at Wikimedia Commons

Reviews

The critics generally panned this film.

In the September 2, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World, movie critic Margaret McDonald observed:

It is difficult to believe that Bluebird Photoplays Inc. would place on their program a picture as crude in construction and amateurish in action as "The Unattainable". ... It is technically and dramatically speaking unusually poor.

In the September 2, 1916 issue of the Motion Picture News, movie critic Harvey Thew discerns:

Although this picture is well and carefully produced, with a wealth of beautiful locations and photography, there is nothing to mark it as anything out of the usual in the way of photoplay offerings. There are a number of important points which do not ring true.

Preservation status

Many silent-era films did not survive for reasons as explained on this Wikipedia page.

In 1978, an extraordinary discovery was made in Dawson City located in Yukon's Canadian territory. The city unknowingly had used a large cache of silent films to bolster a sagging hockey rink in 1929. The permafrost preserved them. The 1978 discovery would yield 533 reels of nitrate film containing numerous lost movies. The discovery was chronicled in the movie - Dawson City: Frozen Time. Among the Dawson Film Find were the 5-reel bluebird production of The Unattainable, released in September 1916, and Barriers of Society released on October 16, 1916. In both cases, only one reel was recoverable from each of the 5 reel feature films. The finders turned over these recovered reels to the Library of Congress. The website of the Library of Congress displays the following:

Gallery

• The Players
• 
  Johnson 1916
  Robert Goodman
• 
  Davenport 1916
  Bessie Gale
• 
  Morris 1916
  Henry Morton
• 
  Allen 1919
  Theatre Manager

Sources

• Braff, R.E. (1999). The Universal Silents: A Filmography of the Universal Motion Picture Manufacturing Company, 1912-1929. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0287-8. Retrieved January 24, 2024.
• Codori, J. (2020). Film History Through Trade Journal Art, 1916-1920. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-3829-4. Retrieved November 3, 2022.
• Fleming, E.J. (2010). Wallace Reid: The Life and Death of a Hollywood Idol. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-8266-5.
• Hirschhorn, Clive (1983). The Universal Story - The Complete History of the Studio and its 2,641 films. New York: Crown Publishing Group. pp. 22–23. ISBN 0-517-55001-6.
• Katchmer, G.A. (2015). A Biographical Dictionary of Silent Film Western Actors and Actresses. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN 978-1-4766-0905-8. Retrieved April 4, 2024.
• Kawin, Bruce F. (1987). How Movies Work. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520076969.
• Keil, C.; Stamp, S. (2004). American Cinema's Transitional Era: Audiences, Institutions, Practices. ACLS Humanities E-Book. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24027-8. Retrieved February 24, 2023.

Further reading

• Holmstrom, J. (1996). The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Michael Russell. ISBN 978-0-85955-178-6. Retrieved April 4, 2024.

External links

• The Unattainable at IMDb 
• "The Unattainable". silentera.com. Retrieved April 26, 2024.