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Ononko’s Vow
(1910) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Frank McGlynn [?] and Edwin S. Porter?
Cast: William Sorrell (William J. Sorelle) [Ononko], Rosanna Bainbridge [Ruth Smith, a Puritan maiden], Charles Ogle [the leader of the New York Militia], George Sheldon [the Deerfield historian], [?] Gordon Sackville?, [?] Mary Fuller?
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Scenario by H.S. Streeter, from a screen story by H.S. Streeter. Cinematography by James H. White and Carl L. Gregory. / © 30 September 1910 by Edison Manufacturing Company [J146161, J146162, J146163, J146164]. Released 30 September 1910. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Reviews: [The Nickelodeon, 15 October 1910, page ?] This film affords a good spectacle, but the dramatic thread gets lost in the beauties of the scenic background. Who, why, and what keep troubling the mind, even while the eye is satisfied with a series of exceptionally fine pictures. The fault with the plot is that it attempts to cover too long a period of time, two generations of characters being involved; dramatic unity is thereby cleft in twain. It doesn’t much matter, though, for the action is at all times stirring, even if not coherent, and the film is undoubtedly impressive, owing to the beauty of the production. // [The Moving Picture World, 15 October 1910, page ?] One of the most elaborate Indian pictures ever put on the screen. It is a story of the famous massacres at Deerfield, Mass., in 1675 and 1704. All exterior scenes were made in and about Deerfield, and they faithfully reproduce the scenery in Summer and Winter. It is well, too, that views of this magnificent old town have been made permanent. It is one of the few historic towns which have not been injured by time and the ruthless renovator. The colonial houses still line the principal street, none of them rebuilt or destroyed, and the great shade trees still overarch the streets, massive, magnificent, unsurpassed. It was a cruel massacre. History says that, and records of the wanderings and sufferings of the prisoners prove the assertions of history. An incident in the early colonial wars, it has remained as one of the landmarks of the struggle in settlement and freedom. There is a heart interest which holds one’s attention and arouses the emotions. There are thrilling scenes when the war whoop of the Indian, the crackling flames of the burning buildings, and the shrieks of those who are suffering at the hands of the Indians can be heard, so vividly is the story told. It brings graphically before one something of the dangers which menaced even as considerable a village as Deerfield and it emphasizes anew what it cost to make this land a fit habitation for the millions that are now here. Films like this perform a service of importance. They instruct, and, at the same time, they impress upon those who see them something of the conditions which existed during the struggle for a new home in the wilderness and later in wresting freedom from a stubborn king.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 22 August 2023.
References: Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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