The Leap of Despair

Original title: Disperato abbandono

1913

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Countess Lilian, bored and wearied with the dull monotony of her empty society life, seeks relief and recreation in the saddle upon her famous mount, Phosphorus. To win a wager, she rides th... Read allCountess Lilian, bored and wearied with the dull monotony of her empty society life, seeks relief and recreation in the saddle upon her famous mount, Phosphorus. To win a wager, she rides this temperamental steed along the parapet of a high bridge, before crowds, who, awe-struck,... Read allCountess Lilian, bored and wearied with the dull monotony of her empty society life, seeks relief and recreation in the saddle upon her famous mount, Phosphorus. To win a wager, she rides this temperamental steed along the parapet of a high bridge, before crowds, who, awe-struck, see her dally with death. A misstep by the horse and she would have crashed earthward sev... Read all

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The action may drag a bit in the third reel

A well photographed and well-staged romance in the life of people well to do. We have pictures showing the boxes at an opera, palaces and a stock exchange. Two persons are happily married. The husband gets word that a gold mine in which is invested his entire fortune has given out and that he consequently is impoverished. Later the wife accepts a place in a circus as a rider. The husband, humiliated at the prospect of being supported by his wife, takes advantage of the attentions of another circus woman to make his wife believe they are welcome and that he is leaving her on that account. In her despair she jumps from a high platform with her horse to the ground. Regardless of the manner in which the leap is contrived it is convincing and thrilling, which is sufficient. The woman is badly hurt, but not killed. She recovers, and later, when a new vein is discovered in the mine, all ends happily. The action may drag a bit in the third reel, but the sensational feature of the jump in the fourth reel and the horsewoman's leap to the parapet of the bridge in the first part offset this. - The Moving Picture World, December 6, 1913