The reason is clear; there simply could not be a clearer or more
undeniable reason: When a story had to be told in one thousand
feet--perhaps a few feet less than that, but never a foot more--it had
to be _all story_, all meat. "Padding" was a thing quite unknown in
1909. The wonder was that so much story could be crowded into so few
feet of film. Good as was the Famous Players five-reel production of
Dumas' "Monte Cristo"--judged by the standards of the year in which it
was released--a great many people who saw it were struck by the fact
that this feature production had very little more actual story in it
than had the carefully condensed one-reel version of the same
novel-play that was put out by the Selig Company in 1908. What it did
have was more detail, and a great deal more opportunity for pictorial
effects. The one-reel Selig release gave every essential detail of
the romance, with the necessary explanatory inserts in the way of
leaders, letters, etc. The Famous Players feature production gave
the essential details plus innumerable details that were by no
means essential--although very effective as helps to a better
understanding of the locale, the period in history, and the author's
characterization.
The Famous Players "Monte Cristo," however, was not, at any point,
"padded.
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