The Poet's Progress's primary photo
  • The Poet's Progress (1916)
  • Short | Short, Comedy, Drama
Primary photo for The Poet's Progress
The Poet's Progress (1916)
Short | Short, Comedy, Drama
Lancelot Faber is an enthusiastic but poor poet who cannot sell his works. He lives on the top floor of a theatrical boardinghouse, where he has excited the admiration of Jane Brown, the poor drudge of a servant. The landlady, tired of ...See moreLancelot Faber is an enthusiastic but poor poet who cannot sell his works. He lives on the top floor of a theatrical boardinghouse, where he has excited the admiration of Jane Brown, the poor drudge of a servant. The landlady, tired of waiting for her money, tells Lancelot that he must pay his rent or leave. He asks her to read the poem he has written which will make him wealthy. He can get the appetizing smell of the dinner below and hear the other guests' merry laughter as they do justice to it, but there's nothing for him, so he commences to pack his few belongings. But Jane thinks of him and wraps her own dinner in a piece of newspaper and takes it up to him; appreciating the kind thought, he makes her a gift of his wonderful masterpiece, then walks out into the great work that is so cold to poets, and Jane goes back to her pots and pans in the kitchen. Here she finds in the back of the newspaper an alluring advertisement of a potted-meat concern offering a prize of $1,000 for the best four lines of poetry advertising their product. Jane conceives the idea of converting the last line of the first verse of poor Lancelot's masterpiece to that purpose. The result is that she gets the prize and also the position as chief of the advertising department, but alas, she cannot fill the bill, so she has recourse to another verse of the masterpiece, which she alters to fill in the necessary potted-meat requirements. Meanwhile, Lancelot reads an advertisement announcing the prize poem. His artistic soul mortified and enraged at all concerned, he starts out to destroy them. He arrives at the office demanding to know who the guilty party is, but they only laugh at him. He brushes them to one side and makes his way into Jane's office. She is wrestling with a tough poem when she looks up to see Lancelot glaring at her. Both are astounded to see each other. Lancelot denounces her for her base treachery, and she offers him the check for $1,000 which she has not touched and asks him to help her write poems that will sell. He agrees and, going behind the screen, sends out a shower of poems that fill the proprietor's heart with joy and shows that a combination of art and commerce to their mutual advantage is possible. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
Read more: Plot summary
Director
Matt Moore
Writers
Samuel Greiner (story) | Walter MacNamara (scenario)
See all filmmakers & crew (3)
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Apr 8, 1916
Release date
Apr 8, 1916 (United States)

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3 cast members
Name Known for
Matt Moore's primary photo
Matt Moore
Lancelot O'Reilly Lancelot O'Reilly   See fewer
Rain (1932)
Jane Gail's primary photo
Jane Gail
Jane Brown Jane Brown   See fewer
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916)
Nellie Slattery's primary photo
Nellie Slattery
The Landlady The Landlady   See fewer
The Mischief Maker (1916)
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