A fictional story that could have inspired the British painter George Frederick Watts’ 1891 painting titled "Hope." HOPE opens with a title that tells us that the English painter George Frederick Watts was born February 23, 1817 and died July 1, 1904, and that "Hope," considered his "finest masterpiece," was completed in 1891, adding that it is now exhibited in the Tate Gallery, London, England. There is also a small picture of Watts. ~A shot of a reproduction of Watts’ celebrated painting, completed in 1885 or 1886, not 1891 as the film’s intertitle has it, follows. It depicts a woman sitting blindfolded atop the globe holding a lyre with all its strings gone save one. The next title advises that Watts’ art "reflects the greatness of a soul vibrant with sympathy and understanding towards all humanity." ~The film continues with Watts in his studio, attempting to reassure a model who is afraid she will make a poor subject: she must portray happiness but says she knows only sorrow. Watts shows her his painting "Hope" and she observes that the lyre has only one string. Watts answers that they can do without the other strings as long as love, represented by the one string, remains. He then proceeds to tell the story that inspired his masterpiece.~The story he tells is set in a fishing village in France and concerns a young girl, Joan (Mary Astor), who marries a fisherman, Pierre LeGrand (Ralph Faulkner). Joan’s father (William J. Gross) is the lighthouse keeper and while Pierre is at sea her father dies and she must take care of the light. Michael Martel (Regan Stewart), the jealous son of the local magistrate, having suffered humiliation in a recent altercation with Pierre, takes his revenge by extinguishing the light and blaming Joan. He spreads the story around the village until it takes on major proportions. His father, André Martel (Fred Gamble), tells Joan there can be no excuse for what she has done and pronounces her negligence to be criminal.~Expecting a child, Joan goes to live with her mother-in-law who regards her with scorn, convinced that she has disgraced their name. Joan gives birth while Pierre is still at sea. Pierre’s boat eventually returns but, in sight of land, it catches fire. Joan is informed that Pierre was swept overboard and is believed lost. But he is washed ashore and staggers home to his wife and child, justifying her never having lost hope.~His story over, Watts puts aside the painting of the title and sets up a fresh canvas as the model, reassured, takes her place. The last shot is of the reproduction seen at the beginning.~In this, the most ambitious of the four Triart films, the action is punctuated by scenes of the lyre, once alone, other times played by variants of the blindfolded woman of the painting. The first two incorporate a live actor, the others use still artwork. Rather like the chorus in Greek tragedies, these scenes comment on, or advance, the action.~They are as follows:~Artwork showing a globe and a live woman with her head held up, playing a lyre with all four strings in place. A superimposed title reads, "The next fishing season found Joan's heart singing with a new joy." She is now with child.~Artwork showing a globe and a live woman with her head now bent low, still playing a lyre with all four strings in place. There is no title superimposed. As Joan sits by her ailing father's bed a lyre is superimposed and a string snaps. Her father has died. ~After the mother declares that Joan has disgraced their name, a title follows reading, "With faith unstrung and the chord of human kindness broken." It is backed by a painting of the woman, now with her head bowed, and the lyre with only three strings remaining.~After the child is born a title, backed by artwork showing a less elaborate rendering of the woman and lyre, reads, "And though the time came that should have brought joy - Pierre did not return."~When Joan is told Pierre was swept overboard, a title superimposed over artwork similar to the previous one but with only one string remaining on the lyre reads, "As Hope bends low to catch its single note." <24mn>
