Love, Snow and Ice
Love, Snow and Ice is a short film directed by Wally Van (sometimes Wallie). It was filmed in Saranac Lake and released in 1915, and starred Wally Van as Cutey Mason, Nitra Frazer as Jean Farley (credited as Nita Frazer), Albert Roccardi as Papa Farley, and Donald MacBride as Clarence Posonby. At least two copies of the film are held in the Moving Image Collection at the George Eastman Museum.
Love, Snow and Ice Synopsis from IMDB:
Mr. Farley wants his daughter, Jean, to marry Clarence Ponsonby, a young man styling him a self-made man. Jean thinks he made a pretty poor job of himself, despises him and is already in love with Cutey Mason. All live near Lake George up in the cold country, and when the lake freezes over, Jean undertakes to teach Clarence and her father skating. By previous arrangement, Cutey shows up, proposes to Jean in the middle of the lake, then when Pa and Clarence stumblingly interpose, the young people simply elope, leaving them to slowly and painfully follow. Hiring a cutter sleigh, Jean and Cutey start for the Justice of the Peace ten miles up the lake, closely pursued by father and Clarence in another sleigh. Cutey's sleigh turns over, but they make their way to a nearby toboggan slide, pile onto one of the big sleds and shoot out over the lake at a high rate of speed. Their pursuers do likewise, but Clarence gets left behind by falling down a steep hill into a crowd of revelers on their way to the mid-winter ice carnival. Mr. Farley, taking a short cut through the deep snow, reaches the Justice of the Peace ahead of the elopers, but that gentleman is on his way to the carnival. He meets Cutey and Jean, warns them papa is awaiting them at his house and tells them to meet him at the carnival, where he will marry them. Cutey hires an ice-boat and is soon speeding towards the carnival at the upper end of the lake. Papa Farley sees them, jumps into another ice-boat, and after some hair-raising bursts of speed, all reach the carnival. The elopers are married by the Justice just before Papa Farley and Clarence, whom he has met at the carnival, arrive. Papa decides to make the best of it, tells Clarence he is not wanted, then all make their way round the carnival. After watching the ice-skating, both fancy and racing, the parade floats and the ice palace, the newlyweds depart with Pa's blessing in a big dog-sledge on the honeymoon.
Vitagraphers Off for Nova Scotia - "love+snow+and+ice" Motography, Jan-Mar 1916, Page 252
To provide scenes authentic of the Arctic regions, the Vitagraph Company has engaged Capt. Robert Bartlett, who was in the North Pole part of the country with Peary, to give his technical aid to the production.
The elaborate filming necessary has been entrusted to Wally Van, hitherto known as a comedy director, but who has demonstrated so thorough a grasp of dramatic scenes and emotional situations that there is little doubt that he will produce a feature worthy of the Vitagraph standard.
Director Van, in company with Capt. Bartlett, Ned Finley, Charles Richman and others of the Vitagraph players, will leave for Nova Scotia next week and film the exterior scenes in the heavy fall of snow reported there. Wally has had considerable experience in snow photography in "Love, Snow and Ice." which he directed at Saranac Lake last year. The requirements for work in snow settings are more exacting than other lines of film endeavor, and Wally's experience up the state will be of immense advantage to him in this new film.