Summary
A labyrinthine exploration of domestic sabotage and fiscal ruin, Will S. Davis’s 'Jealousy' (1916) dissects the fragile equilibrium of the American upper class. The narrative pivots on Carney, a man attempting to bury past tribulations beneath the veneer of a fresh union with Agnes Maynard. However, the equilibrium is shattered by Anne, a woman trapped in a hollow, 'mock' marriage, whose resentment manifests as a predatory campaign of social and psychological warfare. Anne’s machinations are twofold: first, an attempt to dismantle Carney’s domestic bliss by framing Agnes in a compromising tryst with Randolph Parsons—a gambit that fails when the husband, Roland, uncovers the inherent purity of his wife’s intentions. Undeterred, Anne shifts her theater of war to the ruthless arena of the stock market. Exploiting her husband Martin’s vendetta against Carney, she feeds Carney a deceptive tip regarding 'B.H.R. Stock,' ostensibly to save him but ultimately to ensure his total annihilation. The climax is a harrowing tableau of desperation; when Carney confronts his ruin, Anne attempts to stage a histrionic scene of assault to further manipulate the men in her orbit. In a final, cold stroke of irony, Martin exposes her deceit, leaving her to collapse into the void of her own making as he exits her life forever.
Synopsis
Carney marries Agnes Maynard and soon forgets his old sorrow. Anne, tired of her mock wedded life, attempts to make Roland jealous of his wife. She induces Carney to visit the home of Randolph Parsons. There Roland finds his wife, but a sudden twist of affairs results in his discovering that Agnes is innocent. Anne tries new tactics now. She knows that Carney has been losing steadily in the stock market, through her husband's efforts to ruin the man his wife loves. Anne finds a memorandum on Martin's desk: "Corner B.H.R. Stock." She gives this information to Carney. He is overjoyed and grasps the tip eagerly. Martin, however, learns of what Anne has done, and reverses his tactics. The result is that Carney is ruined completely. In his rage, he thinks that Anne has tricked him purposely, and he goes to her, furious. While he is there, she sees Martin returning. She thinks she has an opportunity for revenge. She tears her clothing and lets down her hair. Then she turns out the lights and screams. Martin enters. Anne shrieks that Carney had been attacking her. Martin smiles and takes out the B.H.R. memorandum. "I know your game," he says. "Go," he tells Carney, "you are ruined. You have been punished enough." Martin bids his wife good-bye, and informs her that he is going to leave her. Anne falls senseless to the floor.
Review Excerpt
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The year 1916 represented a pivotal moment in the evolution of American cinema—a time when the medium began to shed its stage-bound origins in favor of a more nuanced, albeit still melodramatic, visual language. Among the most tantalizing relics of this era is Jealousy, a film that serves as a vehicle for the enigmatic 'vamp' Valeska Suratt. To watch—or in the case of this often-elusive title, to reconstruct through contemporary accounts—this film is to witness the birth of the psychological t..."
