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A Child for Sale
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Wikipedia article
'A Child for Sale' is a lost[http://lcweb2.loc.gov:8081/diglib/ihas/loc.mbrs.sfdb.4251/default.html American Silent Feature Film Survival Database: 'A Child for Sale'] 1920 American silent drama film directed by Ivan Abramson, starring Gladys Leslie and Creighton Hale.(October 24, 1920). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FOVfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FgMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=1077,711702&dq= "A Child For Sale" to be the Attraction For the Entire Week Starting Tomorrow], 'The Delmarvia Star'
Plot
Charles Stoddard (played by Hale) is a poor artist living with his wife and two children in Greenwich Village. Destitute after his wife dies, he is forced to sell one of his children for $1,000 to a childless rich woman. He soon comes to his senses however, and backs out of the deal. From there, the story takes a number of twists and turns involving Ruth Gardner (Leslie) (the wife of Dr. Gardner who treats Stoddard's child for illness) and Ruth's parentswhose father is also Stoddard's landlord and mother is later revealed to be Stoddard's long-lost mother from a prior marriage.
Cast
*Gladys Leslie as Ruth Gardner
*Creighton Hale as Charles Stoddard
*Bobby Connelly as Walter Stoddard (Charles' son)
*Julia Swayne Gordon as Paula Harrison
*William H. Tooker as William Harrison
*Anna Lehr as Catherine Bell (Dr. Gardner's nurse)
*William B. Davidson as Dr. Gardner
*"Baby" Ruth Sullivan as Sylvia Stoddard (Charles' daughter)
Publicity
The ad campaign for the film included a faux advertisement for selling a child.(June 25, 1920). [http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042345/1920-06-25/ed-1/seq-11/ A Child for Sale (theatre advertisement)], 'Tulsa World'(September 22, 1920). [https://books.google.com/books?id=jktYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA171&dq=%22child+for+sale%22&hl=en&ei=ezyTTvO4CsXX0QHVsYX6Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&ved=0CHAQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=%22child%20for%20sale%22&f=false By the Way], 'The Outlook (New York)'(October 29, 1920). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0RQrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lZwFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5285,4898654&dq=child-for-sale+ A Child for Sale (ad)], 'Reading Eagle'
Reception
Critic Burns Mantle noted some shortcomings of the film in his review of the "melodramatic opus" in 'Photoplay',[https://books.google.com/books?id=634NAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA16-IA42&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false The Shadow Stage], 'Photoplay' (June 1920) stating that "Ivan Abramson's idea of what constitutes a coherent and convincing dramatic story, taking this picture as a sample, offer many opportunities for the raucous hoot and the mirthful snort. ...His picture is an inartistic jumble of unrelated incidents to me ..." Other contemporary reviews were of a more non-specific and generally positive nature, such as the review by the 'New York Clipper' which described the picture as "intensely interesting from start to finish."(March 24, 1920). [http://www.fultonhistory.com/Process%20small/Newspapers/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201853%20-%201924/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201920-1921%20pdf/New%20York%20NY%20Clipper%201920-1921%20-%200254.pdf A Child for Sale (review)], 'New York Clipper'
References
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