An old man is arrested and dragged from his family. He is whipped and collapses. Despite his family's pleas, he is exiled to Siberia, but dies on the journey. His children become revolutionary Nihilists and take their vengeance.
Directed by "The Old Man" of Biograph, Wallace McCutcheon Sr., this movie is an elaborate and well-presented example of the Illustrated Text style of movie-making at its height. Simple titles, usually no more than half a dozen words, describe what the audience will see, then the action follows, often a shockingly ironic variation on what a polite audience might expect -- but a sad and maddeningly accurate representation to the lower-class and often foreign-born nickelodeon audience.
The camera work is straightforward and primitive, front row center and still, and the sets are clearly painted backdrops. It's not cinematic in the modern sense, but it is clearly a highly effective and politically charged work for the year it was made.
