The Restless Spirit is a 1913 American silent short drama film written and directed by Allan Dwan, featuring J. Warren Kerrigan, Lon Chaney (in a dual role), and Pauline Bush. The film is based on Thomas Gray's 1751 poem, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, and tells the story of a man who wishes to be a conqueror. A series of illusions follows which show him the futility of conquest when he cannot even conquer his own community.
The film makes use of numerous dissolves which were technically difficult to execute, and reportedly sent the cameraman to the hospital due to stress. The film may have been the last unbilled appearance by Lon Chaney, and was released on October 27, 1913 by Universal Film Manufacturing Company under the Victor label. The film is presumed lost.
Plot
The film begins with the Dreamer, a restless and disappointed dreamer who has a wife and child. He gazes at his hands and dreams of becoming a great conqueror, but laments that no opportunities ever come to him, and so he continues to dream. The Dreamer becomes the subject of ridicule and his wife becomes the subject of pity by the community. The Dreamer decides to enter the world of men and abandons his wife, leaving her to seek refuge from her father. Her father wishes for her to marry a wealthy gentleman who is also a stranger in the town.
The Dreamer heads off into the desert and wanders until exhaustion takes its toll. A woman called "The Desert Flower" finds him and takes him to her hut in the desert. There she spends her time looking over the garments of the man who once courted her, who happens to be the same stranger who is now attempting to marry the Dreamer's wife. The woman learns of the Dreamer's story and shows the Dreamer the futility of conquering worlds unknown when he cannot even conquer his own small corner of the world. The Dreamer sees visions of himself in the roles of various great conquerors, but each vision ends in death. Meanwhile the Dreamer's wife has been kicked out of her father's home for refusing to marry the Stranger, and is reunited with the Dreamer at the edge of the desert. The Stranger is sent out into the desert, and the Dreamer and his wife return to the town. In time, the Dreamer becomes respected by the community.
Cast
J. Warren Kerrigan as the Husband/The Dreamer
Pauline Bush as the Wife
Jessalyn Van Trump as The Desert Flower
William Worthington as the Stranger
George Periolat
Lon Chaney in a dual role as a Russian Count/ Wild man
Production
The groundwork for The Restless Spirit began when Allan Dwan visited Universal's offices in New York City in late July 1913. Frederic Lombardi believes that it was during this meeting that Carl Laemmle offered Dwan's colleagues double their pay from Flying A if they would come to Universal. In the following weeks, J. Warren Kerrigan came to Universal and the two would work together in the production of The Restless Spirit. Dwan credits the idea to adapt and produce a film on Thomas Grays Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard as a betting challenge. Dwan also claimed to have studied Gray's poem and dream about the production before accepting the challenge. Frederic Lombardi, author of Allan Dwan and the Rise and Decline of the Hollywood Studios, writes that Dwan may have been emboldened after the production of the Pickett Guard and the lack of structure in Gray's poem. Since the poem had no "real story", Dwan could formulate his own allegorical plot. Dwan was also able to convince his employers that the work would be a box office success and intended to use the film a prestigious multi-role vehicle for Kerrigan's debut at Universal. Lombardi writes that Dwan was subject to produce overtly artistic films, but these tendencies were kept in check by Dwan's more practical inclinations.
