A Yoke of Gold

A Yoke of Gold is a 1916 American silent black and white melodrama directed by Lloyd B. Carleton and starring Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson. Based on an original story by Rob Wagner, it is a period piece set in the early days of the California missions.

The movie was released on August 14, 1916 by Universal.

Plot
Universal Studios set this melodrama between the years of 1834 and 1850. During this time in California's history, a vast economic gap existed. The elite kept accumulating more wealth, and those with little money declined further in position. The disadvantaged were under the, i.e., the yoke of the aristocracy.

Luis Lopez is smarting under this aristocratic yoke. The fiery Luis wants to become the champion of the poor. Luis fancies himself as a local Robin Hood. Luis claims he wants to rob the rich and redistribute wealth among the poor.

Jose Garcia is content to live out his life in the sleepy outskirts of San Gabriel Mission. The gullible Jose falls under the spell of Luis's fiery rhetoric. Jose also becomes determined to find a way to help the less fortunate. Luis is sensing Jose's frustration, enlists Jose to assist him in pursuing his evil designs. Since they now share common goals, the two become fast friends. Luis and Jose start developing a plan to achieve their aims.

The plan comes together. Jose will rob wealthy landowner Don Ortega portrayed by Frank Whitting. Don Ortega lives in Santa Barbara, California. Luis will rob the wealthy Don Mendoza, who resides in "the valley of the seven moons". After the men have completed both break-ins, they will travel back to San Gabriel. They both swear to distribute all their ill-gotten gains to the poor.

Before Jose departs, he informs his devoted mother and Padre Amador of his plans. Padre Amador and leads the Santa Barbara Mission. Since he happens to be San Gabriel visiting friends, the padre gives Jose his blessing. The priest also slips a crucifix into Jose's backpack for good luck.

Jose has a significant obstacle. Before he can rob Don Ortega, he must first cross a burning desert to reach Santa Barbara. Jose starts a journey under the blistering sun. Soon, overcome with thirst, Jose stops for a drink of water. He discovers he has lost his canteen. Jose starts to search his backpack and finds the crucifix that Padre Amador had concealed. He grabs the cross and throws it into the sand. Jose realizes his fate is sealed and lays down in the sand, waiting for death.

As luck would have it, another party was traveling behind Jose and headed in the same direction. Castro Arrellanes and his beautiful daughter – Carmen, are traveling to visit Castro's cousin. In a bit of irony, Castro's cousin is none other than Don Ortega. They come across the crucifix half-buried in the sand. Later they discover the half-dead Jose. Jose is on the edge of death. Castro and Carmen decide to finish their journey and take Jose to Don Ortega's home to recover. After they arrive at Don Ortega's home, Carmen starts nursing Jose back to good health.

Now we turn our focus to Luis Lopez. Luis arrived at the home of Don Mendoza in the valley of the seven moons. He convinces Don Mendoza he has lost his way and requests lodging. The Mendozas take him in. After waiting for Mendoza and his wife to fall asleep, Lopez sneaks into the living room. He knows Don Mendoza has hidden bags of gold in a large chest. While stealing the gold, Mendoza's wife catches him in the act. Lopez attacks the woman, but the ensuing struggle wakes-up Don Mendoza. He rushes to his wife's aid and forces Lopez to flee. Lopez takes his gold and heads back to San Gabriel to meet up with Jose.

Jose continues to recuperate in Don Ortega's home under Carmen's tender care. But during Jose's healing process, Jose falls in love with Carmen. Now a man in love, Jose renounces his plans to rob the rich and give to the poor. Recovered, Jose heads back home to confront Luis and tell him of his change of heart.

Jose arrives in San Gabriel. Luis Lopez confronts him. Luis learns Jose had failed in his attempt to rob Ortega. Luis is beside himself with rage. Luis vows to steal Ortega's gold himself. In another starling turn, Jose learns, Lopez never intended to give the gold to the poor. From the start, Lopez had planned to keep all the gold for himself. Jose promises himself; he will not be complicit in robbing those who had befriended him. Before Luis retires for the evening, he stashed the gold he stole from Mendoza under his pillow. Luis falls to sleep. Later in the evening, Jose sneaks into Lopez's room, takes the gold, and escapes into the darkness. Jose then secures a horse and heads for Don Ortega's home in Santa Barbara.

Luis discovers what has happened. He vows to pursue the traitorous Jose and kill him. Even though Jose has a head start, Luis believes he can beat Luis to Don Ortega's home.

Both Jose and Luis ride hard and fast across the desert to Santa Barbara - the home of Don Ortega. Jose wins the race and arrives before Luis. He warns Ortega of the impending robbery, and then both men lay a trap for Lopez. They catch him in the act.

Carmen enters the picture. She believes a caring heart is beneath Luis Lopez's wicked veneer. Carmen thinks Luis can be redeemed. She pleads with Luis to turn his life around. At Carmen's bidding, padre Amador has returned to Santa Barbara. He joins Carmen in trying to convince Luis to forsake his sinful life and repent. Suddenly, Luis sees the light, heeds the call, and reforms his evil ways. Luis decides to become a monk. He enters the Mission at Santa Barbara under Padre Amador's guidance. He will spend the rest of his days as a priest at the mission.

Later, Jose and Carmen get married and live in wedded bliss.

Pre-production
In the book, "American Cinema's Transitional Era," the authors point out, One aspect of this transition was the longer duration of films. Feature films  were slowly becoming the standard fare for Hollywood producers. Before 1913, you could count the yearly features on two hands. Between 1915 and 1916, the number of feature movies rose $2 1/2$ times or from 342 films to 835. There was a recurring claim that Carl Laemmle was the longest-running studio chief resisting the production of feature films. Universal was not ready to downsize its short film business because short films were cheaper, faster, and more profitable to produce than feature films.

Laemmle would continue to buck this trend while slowly increasing his output of features. In 1914, Laemmle published an essay titled - In 1916, Laemmle ran an advertisement extolling Bluebird films while adding the following vocabulary on the top of the ad. Carl Laemmle released 91 feature-length films in 1916, as stated in Clive Hirschhorn's book,

Development
This movie was initially planned as a two-reel morality play revolving around a central love theme. The film would feature Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson. Previously, the Davenport-Johnson pairing had appeared in five short films and two feature films. This film would become the eighth in the planned thirteen-film series featuring the pair.

Universal initially named this film – The film's story was adapted from an article by Rob Wagner in the Saturday Evening Post. Universal planned to showcase a love story set in the early days of Spanish-controlled California. The Spanish missions of San Gabriel and Santa Barbara would serve as a backdrop.

The movie gets its name from how the two main villains redeem themselves and leave their criminal past behind. As stated in the bible verse, their faith and deeds would be the basis for their judgment after they had moved on from their past crimes. The expectation was that the completed project would combine a moral message with an entertaining love story for moviegoers

Casting

 * Dorothy Davenport (1895-1977) was an established star for Universal when the 21 year-old actress played Carmen. She had acted in hundreds of movies by the time she starred in this film. The majority of these films were 2-reel shorts, as was the norm in Hollywood's teen years. She had been making movies since 1910. She started dating Wally Reid when she was barely 16, and he was 20. They married in 1913. After her husband died in 1923, she used the name "Mrs. Wallace Reid" in the credits for any project she took part in. Besides being an actress, she would eventually become a film director, producer, and writer.
 * Emory Johnson (1894-1960) was 22 years old when he starred in this movie as Jose Garcia. In January 1916, Emory signed a contract with Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Carl Laemmle of Universal Film Manufacturing Company thought he saw great potential in Johnson, so he chooses him to be Universal's new leading man. Laemmle's hope was Johnson would become another Wallace Reed. A major part of his plan was to create a movie couple that would sizzle on the silver screen. Laemmle thought Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson could create the chemistry he sought. Johnson and Davenport would complete 13 films together. They started with the successful feature production of Doctor Neighbor in May 1916 and ended with The Devil's Bondwoman in November 1916. After completing the last movie, Laemmle thought Johnson did not have the screen presence he wanted. He decided not to renew his contract. Johnson would make 17 movies in 1916, including eight shorts and 11 feature-length Dramas. 1916 would become the second-highest movie output of his entire acting career. Emory acted in 25 films for Universal, mostly dramas with a sprinkling of comedies and westerns.
 * Alfred Allen (1866-1947) was 50 years old when he was selected to play Luis Lopez. Allen was highly educated, had a commanding presence and stood six feet, and weighed two hundred pounds. He got his start in the film industry at Universal city in 1913.  He landed his first role in 1915. His roles were character parts, and he played mostly fathers, villains, or ranch owners. Alfred Allen appeared in 69 features from 1916 through 1929. After acting in Heartaches he would appear in four more Davenport-Johnson projects: A Yoke of Gold," The Unattainable, The Human Gamble and Barriers of Society.
 * Richard Morris (1862-1924) was a 54 year-old actor when he played Padre Amador. He was a character actor and former opera singer known for Granny (1913). He would eventually participate in many Johnson projects, including |In the Name of the Law (1922),  The Third Alarm (1922),  The West~Bound Limited (1923), The Mailman (1923) until his untimely death in 1924.

Director
Lloyd B. Carleton (c. 1872–1933) started working for Carl Laemmle in the Fall of 1915. Carleton arrived with impeccable credentials, having directed some 60 films for the likes of Thanhouser, Lubin, Fox, and Selig.

Between March and December 1916, 44-year-old Lloyd Carleton directed 16 movies for Universal, starting with The Yaqui and ending with The Morals of Hilda. Emory Johnson acted in all 16 of these films. Of Carleton's total 1916 output, 11 were feature films, and the rest were two-reel shorts.

In 1916, Carleton directed 13 films pairing Dorothy Davenport and Emory Johnson. This film would be the eighth in the 13-film series. Carleton was given the task by Carl Laemmle to determine if the Davenport-Johnson duo had the desired on-screen chemistry.

Screenplay
Robert Leicester Wagner (1872 - 1942), better known as Rob (Bob) Wagner, was born In Detroit, Michigan on August 2, 1872. In 1914, Wagner married a newspaperwoman who believed he could earn more money writing about the film industry than as a working artist. Between 1915 and 1918, he wrote a series of articles on the film industry for the Saturday Evening Post. This story was based on one of those articles. During his career, Wagner would demonstrate his talents as an artist, magazine writer, screenwriter, and director. He was 44 years old when this film was released.

The screenplay was created by Calder Johnstone (1880-1958), who began writing scenarios in 1914. This film was released when Johnstone was 36 years old and a member of the Universal writing staff. He had previously written scenarios for Two Mothers and Her Soul's Song, both released earlier in the year. After completing this film's scenario, he would write the story and adaptation for the October 1916 Universal production of The Human Gamble.

Exteriors
There are twenty-one religious outposts or missions located in California. Rob Wagner's original story in the Saturday Evening Post mentioned two missions. Director Lloyd B. Carleton chose these two missions for his picture. Several motion picture magazines sources verify the area of location shooting for this project.

The mission of San Gabriel was a fortuitous choice because it was only twenty miles from Hollywood. The mission was founded in 1771 and named in honor of the Archangel Gabriel. The mission earned the nickname due to its significance.

The second choice was the in Santa Barbara, California. The mission at Santa Barbara was established in 1786 and is 120 miles from San Gabriel. The The Royal Road is home to both missions. In addition, the San Gabriel Mountains and the Mojave Desert served as the settings for other essential scenes in the movie.

Interiors
On March 15, 1915, Laemmle opened the world's largest motion picture production facility, Universal City Studios. It is unclear if this movie filmed any interiors at Universal city.

Schedule
According to a news item published in the Los Angeles Sunday Times, location shooting for this film started in April 1916. An item in the May 27, 1916 issue in the Motion Picture News referred to the film as a two-reel photoplay named.

On June 3, 1916, a notice in the Motion Picture News stated: In the June 17, 1916 issue of Motography, an article reported that Lloyd Carleton had completed a two-reel drama called  (Title is not a misprint) The exact date of the film's final name change to  is unknown.

Apart from altering the title and length, the movie transitioned from a moral story to a historical depiction, ultimately focusing on the clash between the wealthy California elite and those aiming to rob their wealth.

Working title
During the production of films, a project must have a way to be referenced. The project is given a working title. An is another term for a Working Title. Frequently, the working title turns into the release title. There were several titles for this film, but none were officially recognized as a working title.
 * Originally titled this film began as a two-reel film.
 * The title was changed to
 * Next, we notice that the "In" is omitted -
 * The Copyright application for is submitted on July 17.
 * Movie critics start referring to the film as -
 * Finally, we arrive at

Music
As part of Universal's in-house publication, The Moving Picture Weekly, a section was devoted to proposing musical selections for specific Universal movies. The musical selections were "Specially Selected and Compiled by M. Winkler." Each reel of the movie had recommendations, as shown below:
 * A Yoke of Gold
 * by Charles Roberts is the theme.
 * REEL I.
 * 1. "Maximilian Overture" by Ascher until "After the simple repast."
 * 2. "Lola" is a Mexican love song by Tobani until "The following day."
 * 3. "Jovitta" Mexican Serenade until "When the sun rose, they started," etc.
 * 4. "Habanera" from "Carmen" by Bizet.

The complete music recommendations for this film are located in the Gallery section of this page.

Official release
The copyright was filed with U.S. Copyright Office on June 17, 1916. and entered into the record as shown:

In 1916, movies were always released on Mondays. This film was officially released on Monday, August 14, 1916.

Advertising
Advertising plays a vital role in ensuring a movie's success by bringing paying customers to the theater. By providing details about plotlines, actors, release dates, and other key information, a successful marketing campaign boosts excitement among potential stakeholders. This knowledge empowered theater owners to make smarter booking decisions in a competitive market. In addition to an advertising campaign for a movie, Carl Laemmle added another wrinkle to assist potential stakeholders in deciding to view or book a new film.

In 1916, Universal became the first Hollywood studio to classify feature films based on production cost. One of the reasons behind this move was that the "Big Five" film studios owned their own movie houses, enabling them to have guaranteed outlets for their entertainment products. Unlike the majors, Universal did not own any theaters or theater chains. Branding all Universal-produced feature films would give theater owners another tool to judge the films they were about to lease and help fans decide which movies they wanted to see.

In 1916, Universal produced 91 branded feature films, consisting of 44 and 47  productions. The branding system had a brief existence and, by 1920, had faded away.

Reviews
Melodrama films have plots appealing to the raised passions of the audience. They concentrate on family issues, direct their attention to a victim character, and develop the themes of duty and love. The melodramatic format shows the characters working through their struggles with persistence, sacrificial deeds, and courage.

The critics generally panned this movie.

In the September 16, 1916 issue of the New York Clipper, the reviewer writes "Here we have the 'Red Feather' stuff at what seems to be its lowest ebb . .. The story is weak, the direction fair at best, the acting 'most ordinary', and the general characteristics, designate 'The Yoke of Gold' as a puerile affair."

In the September issue of the Moving Picture World, Robert C. McElravy reviewed this movie and stated: "A weak story is its main drawback, and this is the more noticeable because so many strong tales have been woven about the early days of California. . .. There is a great deal of quiet beauty in these offerings and a strong moral purpose in the story. But these things do not compensate for the slow action and lack of dramatic strength"

In the September issue of the Motion Picture News, Peter Milne was more upbeat in his review. He observed: "Aided by some beautiful scenes and good photography, the picture leaves little to be desired from an artistic standpoint . . . With Emory Johnson and Dorothy Davenport in the roles of lovers and Alfred Allen as the bandit, the picture has been well-acted."

Box office
The September issue of the New York Clipper estimated the budget of this film at no more than US$3,000. They used this figure to explain the poor quality of the feature film. They also pointed out "...the big feature companies are to-day spending from US$5,000 to US$20,000  on a five-reeler.

Preservation status
Many silent-era films did not survive for reasons as explained on this Wikipedia page. According to the Library of Congress, all known copies of this film are lost.