ELEANOR'S CATCH is a delightful short, directed by and starring Cleo Madison. A successful actress, Madison was one of many women who directed films at Universal, particularly in the mid 1910s. In this two-reeler, she stars as a young city girl dragged into a life of crime by a ne’er-do-well suitor. A terrific surprise ending gives Eleanor and Cleo an early claim to promoting women’s equality in the workforce.
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Absolutely Fantastic
Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
This film was directed by famed female director, Lois Weber and was included as an extra on the DVD from her film HYPOCRITES. While HYPOCRITES is a full-length film (for 1915--at less than 50 minutes it seems a bit short compared to later films), ELEANOR'S CATCH is a short--at only about 12 minutes.The movie is a preachy film about a Lothario that wants to lead a young woman astray. This good woman appears rather gullible, as she accepts his wicked advances, though by the end of the film the tides are turned--resulting in an unexpected twist.Overall, a very slight and not especially enjoyable film. The only things I think it has to highly recommend it today is the film's showing a woman in an untraditional role. Additionally, as the work of one of the few female directors of the day (or even today), it is noteworthy.
As an added bonus on Kino's DVD "Hypocrites", this one-reeler from popular female actress/writer/director Cleo Madison doesn't really annoy. Neither, though, does it go anywhere. The story, which is some sort of dramedy (at least I think it is), is ridiculous, the acting is standard and the direction weak. Since "Eleanor's Catch" is apparently the only surviving Madison film, it does have considerable historical value and it's very nice that it is available for home viewers. But it probably won't be watched by most people more than once or twice, and on the basis of this film it's difficult to discern what Madison's appeal was.
Eleanor's Catch (1916) ** (out of 4) Writer, director and star Cleo Madison was one of many female director's working at Universal but this film is one of the few from her filmography that isn't lost. In the movie Madison plays a hard working woman who begins cheating on her hard working boyfriend with the town loser (William V. Mong) who plans on leading her down a life of crime. Outside the historic nature of having a female director, this film is pretty tame and standard for the type of one-reel melodrama that was floating around in 1916. There's really nothing technical strong here that would make the film jump out as anything but a curio for those wanting to see some early work of a female director. The screenplay, written by Madison and Mong, isn't that bad until the final few minutes when there's a plot twist that totally kills everything that came before it. This twist had me in laughter, which isn't good for a drama.
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