Valentine Grant is destined for opera when she meets Sidney Olcott in a New York theater in 1914. He is not tall, is not particularly beautiful, he is older than her but he has a charm crazy. Hypnotic eyes and an assertive voice asking him: "Would you like to make movies? "

The Canadian has just broken a seven-year artistic adventure with Gene Gauntier, his early collaborator, star actress, screenwriter and confidante. He is looking for, in the absence of a substitute, an actress capable of holding the top of the poster.

Cinema? To do what ? asks the young woman.
"To earn money," replies the director.

Valentine Grant, born on February 14, 1881, in Frankfurt, Indiana, a young classic singer in the making, is convinced.

When Men Would Kill, their first film, shot in Jacksonville, Florida and Fort Lee, New York is released on May 23, 1914.

Sidney Olcott shoots the films, made in Florida in the winter, in Ireland in summer, in New York, the rest of the year... In the Hands of a Brute (1914), Tricking the Government (1914), All For Old Ireland (1915), The Taint (1915), The Innocent Lie (1916)…

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