AllMovie

Hobart Bosworth, the "renaissance man" of the pre-1920 movie industry, was producer, director, writer and star of the 5-reel Pursuit of the Phantom. Its title notwithstanding, the film was not an action adventure, but instead a domestic drama concerning the schism between a wealthy father (Bosworth) and his son (Courtenay Foote). Things get really sticky when the son falls in love with the daughter of the father's ex-sweetheart. This happens sometime during the third reel, leaving the actors with nothing to do but emote heavily (and, according to some reviewers, drearily), for the remaining two reels. The scenes filmed along the California seascape were attractive enough to make up for the film's dramatic tedium and directorial repetitiveness