Movie spotlight
The Availing Prayer
William Rock, assistant cashier in a business concern, has a sick daughter. The doctor urges that she be taken immediately to another climate, and Rock, unable to get an advance on his pay, is desperate. He has been in the habit of taking the deposits to the bank every Saturday, and then going direct from the bank home. He determines that week to steal the money. On Saturday Rock is followed on the street by a couple of crooks. He goes into a telephone booth to phone his daughter May and her fiancé, a young physician, that they can start south with the younger sister at once. Taking the money out of the bank satchel, he stuffs it in his inside vest pocket and leaves with the empty bag in his hand. He goes down an alleyway to get rid of the satchel, but is assaulted by the gunmen and the bag taken from him.
Insights
Plot Summary
Information about this film is extremely limited due to its age and the lack of surviving prints. Based on available records, it is believed to be a short drama that likely explored themes of faith, desperation, or perhaps redemption, common in early cinema narratives.
Critical Reception
As a film from 1914, contemporary critical reception is largely unarchived and difficult to ascertain. Early films often received brief notices, and detailed critical analyses were rare, especially for shorts. Its obscurity suggests it did not achieve widespread critical acclaim or impact.
What Reviewers Say
Due to the extreme scarcity of information, it's impossible to provide a consensus.
Any extant reviews from its release are not publicly accessible.
The film is primarily known to historians for its age rather than its content.
Google audience: There is no publicly available data or audience reviews for 'The Availing Prayer (1914)' on Google platforms, given its historical context and lack of distribution.
Fun Fact
Surviving film prints from 1914 are exceedingly rare, and 'The Availing Prayer' is one of many early cinematic works that exist only in historical records, with the actual film potentially lost forever.
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