The Quest of Life (1916)

Genres - Drama  |   Run Time - 75 min.  |   Countries - United States  |   MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Janiss Garza

Initially the whole purpose of the Famous Players studio was to get stars of the stage in front of their cameras. Sometimes the results were less than stellar, as in this vehicle that stars dancers Maurice and Florence Walton. Ellen Young (Florence Walton) is a poor girl who works as a secretary for a dancing academy; Maurice Bretton (Maurice Walton) is the star student. Ellen has weak lungs, and the doctor gives her but a year to live. But she starts to come back to life when Maurice decides to use her as a dancing partner (no one bothers to explain how this sick girl has the strength to dance). They win popularity with their Apache dance (which in real life was the couple's specialty). When Maurice finds out how ill she is, he secretly pays to have her sent to a sanitarium. However, she believes that the slick Alec Mapleton (Julian L'Estrange) has paid for her stay, and she leaves Maurice to do a solo act. It fails, and when Florence finds out who really paid for her recovery, she returns to Maurice as both a dancing and a life partner. One of the best comments on this picture came from the trade magazine Variety: "As screen actors, the Waltons are good dancers."

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Keywords

cure, dance [art], love, partner, playboy, stars [celebrities], terminal-illness