Unrelated to "Cabiria" of Same Year: Another Red Cross Seal Story

Reading this title, "The Temple of Moloch," my mind instantly went to memories of one of the most lavish spectacles of the 1914 Italian epic "Cabiria," but in this one-reeler (although the Blackhawk copy I saw seems as though it may be slightly abridged) we get sensationalism of another kind, to advertise in time for the Christmas charitable season donations to the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (now known as the American Lung Association) via the Red Cross and Edison's film company. This seems to have been an annual tradition begun in 1910. Two other such films available today include "Hope" (1912), available from the website for the National Film Preservation Foundation, and "The Lone Game" (1915), included in the home-video set "Edison: The Invention of the Movies."

As in the others, this is a melodrama with a contrived comeuppance plot to lecture on the perils of consumption, which in the case of this film is seemingly connected with potter's rot (silicosis), as the infection is traced back to a badly ventilated and dusty pottery. Viewing this in 2020, during another pandemic, it seems as though not much has changed. The doctor lectures a poor family on how to protect themselves, to which advice they ignore--although, granted, the guy did try to steal their baby away to a "preventarium." And the owner of the potteries equally ignores the dangers he puts his employees in until the disease boomerangs back onto his family. (It might be worth noting that this is told in flashback by the worker to the boss, which is rather unexpectedly non-straightforward plotting for such a film. There, noted.) Maybe they should start making these films again, because it doesn't seem we quite learned our lesson. As the doc colorfully says here, "The place is a modern Temple of Moloch. Children are fed to disease as they were fed to the ancient god."

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

Workers in a pottery factory labor in unhealthy, unventilated and dangerous conditions, but the plant's wealthy owner doesn't see any need to change things. It's not long before one of his workers falls ill to tuberculosis, and soon the owner learns the meaning of the old adage, "What goes around comes around".

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The Temple of Moloch

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