The Engineer's Daughter (1909) User Reviews

A powerful drama that moves one when it is seen

[deickemeyer · 27 January 2015]

An interesting bit of melodramatic work, which has the usual vigor displayed by the Selig pictures. It is easy for the city-bred hunter to win the affections of the simple country girl, but later, after she receives the money from her father's life insurance, the real character of the lover is disclosed, and, shaking Kate off, he goes to another point and seeks to win the hand of a wealthy young lady. Her father dead, her brother a cripple, her money gone, it becomes necessary for Kate to seek employment. She finds it in the very house where her false lover is trying to secure the hand of the heiress. Kate eventually denounces him and he is given the alternative of either returning her money or going to jail. He chooses the former and Kate returns to her home triumphant. This sounds simple enough in telling, yet it is in reality a powerful drama that moves one when it is seen and causes one to want to seize the scamp by the throat and choke the life out of him. It may be that no stronger praise could be bestowed upon the picture than this. If it arouses such resentful emotions it must portray the characters with unusual strength. Photography and staging are quite in keeping with the subject and the picture as a whole is quite satisfactory. - The Moving Picture World, December 18, 1909