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The Stealers

Production: Two weeks in the summer of 1920;

Premiere: Not Available;
Released: October 3, 1920;
Production/Distribution Companies: Robertson-Cole Pictures Corporation;
Runtime: unknown(lost film);
Country: USA;
Language: English;
Color: Black and White;
Sound Mix: Silent;
Not available on VHS or DVD(a lost film);

Cast: William H. Tooker as Rev. Robert Martin; Robert Kenyon as Martin as a young man; Myrtle Morse as Mrs. Martin; Norma Shearer as Julia Martin; Ruth Dwyer as Mary Forrest; Eugene Borden as Sam Gregory; Jack Crosby as Raymond Pritchard; Matthew L. Betz as Bert Robinson; Jack O'Brien as Man of Dawn; Downing Clarke as Major Wellington; Walter Miller as Stephen Gregory;

Production Credits:
Produced by: William Christy Cabanne;
Directed by: William Christy Cabanne;
Writer: William Christy Cabanne;
Gowns by: unknown;
Editing: unknown;

Reviews:

Edwin Schallert in Los Angeles Times, March 17, 1921: "In its way, The Stealers has somewhat the same strong inspirational sentiment as The Miracle Man. There are many resemblances in the underlying thought, but the surface plot is sufficiently different to give newness, and to hold keen interest.

The cast is an unfamiliar one, but we will look with interest for further appearances of Willaim Tooker, the portrayer of the gang leader and his artful dodger who adds greatly to the humor. The daughter is ably interpreted by Norma Shearer."

Motion Picture News, October 2, 1920: "It must be confessed that Mr. Cabanne's story resorts often to the convenient, to far fetched coincidence. He has chosen to shoot at a high mark a theme of Miracle Man caliber- and he has scored strongly from a production standpoint, missing only in the strength and originally of the dramatic incident counted upon to carry over that great message of faith and the wonders it works. Valued as a picture intended for the entertainment of audiences, without attempting comparison, the directing, the acting, which is excellent throughout, and the atmosphere of the offering should get it all over."

Notes/Trivia:
-Norma Shearer's first onscreen credit.
-Brought back a great profit at the box office, being that it was only a B picture.
-Loosely based on The Miracle Man (1919), which made Lon Chaney a Hollywood star. Norma would work with Chaney in He Who Gets Slapped (1924), and The Tower of Lies (1925).