1915 was a big year for director Allan Dwan. He jumped from Flying A, where he had directed many a short western since 1911, to Famous Players, where he made one of their trademarked "Famous Players in Famous Plays." Although these almost invariably turned out to be stodgy, Dwan and star William H. Crane, who had played the eponymous David Harum since its Broadway debut in 1901, breathe some life into it.
A lot of the problems with these "Famous Plays" is they were meant for people familiar with the book or the play they were based on, as if the movie goer were there to see what he remembered: the horse trading scene, this scene, that scene and so forth. To make a movie from a play be cinematic, it needs to be "opened up" and Dwan accomplishes this with a lovely traveling shot in which Harum puts on his New York City evening clothes and walks down the muddy main street of Homeville. The camera trundles in front of him as he leaves a wake of stunned rubes behind him.
The other strength is star William H. Crane. Despite the fact you can see the seam in his bald wig, he plays Harum not only skillfully, but joyously. That joy of performance, in which you can see the actor having a good time, is a rare phenomenon in the movies, and utterly engaging. Dwan would go on to a long and productive association with another performer who clearly enjoyed his work: Douglas Fairbanks Sr.
Although this version clearly has issues for the modern viewer, it was very much a winner for 1915 and still looks interesting almost a century later.
