The Coward (1915)

The Coward: Directed by Reginald Barker, Thomas H. Ince. With Frank Keenan, Charles Ray, Gertrude Claire, Patricia Palmer. Colonel Winslow, veteran of the Mexican War, hopes for a great future for his only son, Frank. At the outbreak of the Civil War, a recruiting station is opened in the Virginia village where the Winslows live. Frank, obsessed with fear and admitting that he is a coward, refuses to enlist. His father’s humiliation is great and in his wrath he drives Frank to the office under threat of death, and the son joins the local company. The very first night he is assigned to picket duty near the Union front. He is terrified, throws down his rifle and flees. His family’s negro, Mammy, gives him refuge in the kitchen and summons his mother. The latter is comforting him when the colonel, puzzled by her absence, comes to look for her and discovers Frank. The colonel then goes to the army and becomes Private Winslow in the company which his cowardly son deserted. Meanwhile, Frank hides in the attic as a group of Union officers arrive and take possession of the house. As they discuss the weakness of one of their positions he listens. A plan formulates itself in his mind; he casts away his fear and obtains the plans by surprising the officers while they are unarmed. On a horse he rides to the Confederate commander, having made his escape in the blue coat of a northern sentry whom he had knocked unconscious. As he gallops ahead of his pursuers he starts across a bridge commanded by the fire of his father, who is on picket duty at the time. Seeing only the blue coat Colonel, or private, Winslow fires. His aim is true and horse and rider topple into the river. Frank, however, though wounded is able to get ashore and deliver the plans to the commander. An attack is ordered and the northern army routed. Father and son are reunited after the battle.

“u0026quot;The Coward,u0026quot; a 1915 silent era Civil War flick, was designed, written and directed to be enjoyable North and South of Messrs. Mason and Dixonu0026#39;s line. Today itu0026#39;s a curiosity piece both as entertainment and as history (Iu0026#39;m showing it in a few weeks in my law school legal history seminar, u0026quot;Slavery, the Constitution and the Civil War.u0026quot; Our un-hero is a finely turned out Southern lad, popular with the demure lassies and scion to the small but well-kept estate of a former colonel. The fellow lives with his parents and their two devoted slaves, a cook and a sort of valet-butler.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe call to arms, to defend the South (the South was invaded?), comes and the boy heads to the recruiting station where his contemporaries are eagerly lining up to doff formal attire and don uniforms. He chickens out, goes home and confesses to Pa thatu0026#39;s heu0026#39;s chicken. No, thunders dad, no member of our family can be a coward. Get thee back and sign up.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHe does so but at the first sign of danger, while on picket duty, he deserts and skedaddles home. Mommy embraces him, the slaves try to hide him and Pa has a royal fit when he finds his worthless, gutless offspring gulping down milk and cookies in the kitchen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDetermined to salvage family honor, Pa enlists as a private, replacing his son. Meanwhile, Union officers have occupied the family home and a hiding in the attic deserter overhears their battle plans. Guess how the story develops from there.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA tale of honor cravenly lost and then heroically redeemed, u0026quot;The Cowardu0026quot; is the kind of satisfying melodrama that early moviegoers loved. The actors magnify their facial expressions to compensate for silently mouthed dialog.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSoutherners watching u0026quot;The Cowardu0026quot; could bask in the family loyalty to the Confederacy and the pliant, loving submission of slaves. Northerners saw an honorable foe whose forces but not spirit could be beaten.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA neat relic from the vaults of the silents.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e8/10”