Moving Picture News (Jul-Oct 1913)

24 THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS Manufaclvrcrs' Synopses of Films FRONTIER THE VILLAGE PEST (Sept. 25).— W'allie Waddles, son of the village grocer, has been secretly studying the art of legerdemain. Nora Farley gives a party and, because of Willie's father's standing in the village, is forced to invite him. The boy sees his opportunity to show just how much he knows. One of his tricks is pulling a table cloth from the table without disturbing the dishes. The night of the party arriving, Wallie insists on pestering every one, and particularly the other boys. The climax is reached when he seeks to pull the table cloth off without disturbing the dishes. Nora gets them in her lap. Wallie is hustled away and soused in the horse trough. Left alone, he crawls, shivering, into the wagon and under the hay. His trip home is extremely sad. Next morning Wallie, with a severe cold, makes his way to the barn, where he destroys his book on legerdemain and the village is left in peace once more. NESTOR HIS CRAZY JOB (Sept. 26).— Believing that there is graft in the management of the State Asylum, the managing editor of the Clarion is determined to get the information needed to convict. A reporter is ordered to investigate, but his arrogant and impertinent methods result in his being forcibly ejected from the asylum. When the reporter, a star, returns to the office with the information that inside facts are impossible to get, the editor is disgusted. Only too gladly he gives the cub reporter a chance to secure the facts. To gain admittance to the place the cub feigned insanity. Safely landed, the cub spots the warden's niece and is attracted by her beauty, although he deplores the fact that she is, as he stipposes, weak minded. After taking the cub's watch and wallet, the warden allows him to roam the grounds. Here he encounters many noble and famous characters. After a talk with the steward and a secret examination of the books he learns all that is necessary and attempts his escape over the wall. This leads to a chase. The cub is recaptured and placed in the iron cell, flanked on either side by wild men. The warden's niece, strolling throvigh the place, is appealed to successfully. He again gets over the wall and, pursued by guards, runs all the way to the newspaper office, where the editor protects him and turns the laugh on the pursuers. On the following day the warden's niece returns the wallet and watch and proves her sanity by admiring the cub immensely. 101 BISON THE STRUGGLE (Sept. 23).— Loyalty among brothers, even to great sacrificing, is the theme of this two-part drama. Mr. and Mrs. MacComb have two sons, .Tack and Jim. Jim, the younger, is spoiled. He drops in with the boys to have "ust one," while his father and brother go on to work. Late for work, Jim is discharged. Returning to the saloon he gambles all his money and is thrown out. Jack finds him, takes h'.m home, makes excuses to their mother, and puts him to bed. Disgusted with everything. Jim is anxious to get away from the town. He attempts to steal his father's money, is caught by Jack, and when the father appears. Jack assumes the guilt. He is ordered from the house, never to return. In the city he obtains employment, while his brother Jim goes from baa to worse until the father at last locks him out. This awakens the manhood in him; he writes a note to the father confessing his guilt relative to faking the money and leaves for the city to redeem himself. There he meets Jack and, through him, secures employment. During their vacations the following .Sununer they return home to save their f.-ilher and mother, who, through re MIATT PATENTS verses and sickness, have lost their money. .\ happy reunion takes place. POWERS THE BLOOD-RED TAPE OF CHARITY (Two Reels) (Sept. 26). Charity, through excessive organization, often defeats its own purpose. William Weldon, a telegraph lineman, is the father of a large family, and finds it a hard struggle to make ends meet on his small wages. By a fall from a telegraph pole one afternoon he sustains injuries which force a lay-off for several weeks. His family is left destitute and, after a time, seek aid from various charity organizations. In each case the organization promises to make a full investigation and do what they can, but by the time all the red tape and rules are complied with, the family would starve. In the meantime, Marx, a gentleman thief who has a secret retreat in the same building in which the Weldon family live, meets the invalid daughter, Alice Weldon. She tells him of the family's condition and Marx endeavors to aid her, although at the time he is out of ready cash himself. Taking desperate measures, he holds up a doctor and forces him to attend to Weldon. Then, in company with the female leader of the gang, he attends the charity ball. There he makes a haul — plucking jewelry and trinkets from every one with whom he comes in contact. He pawns the stolen articles and uses the money to help the Weldons. After the family has recovered, through Marx's aid, the charity organizations finally send a few dollars and a skimpy supply of food. Marx decides to reform — in fact, his reformation has been intended for some time, and his last "job" was only the outcome of his desire to do a worthy charity. He goes to the police, declares himself, and surrenders. Mar.x is sentenced, and while sitting in his cell a vision of Alice appeared before him, repaying him for his sacrifice and charity. VITAGRAPH THE OTHER "WOMAK (Sept. 24).— Introduced to Marie Forrest, the actress, by a mutvial friend, John becomes infatuated with her. Ignorant of his family ties, she accepts him as a friend. His wife and child cannot help feeling his estrangement. At the close of the season, Marie, on the advice of her physician, seeks a quiet spot and stops by chance at the same hotel where John's wife and child are staying. The two women become great friends and spend all their time together. John, conscience-stricken, and missing his family very much, takes a run to the beach. He gets there just as Alice, who is in bathing with her little girl, is taken with a cramp and nearly drowned. Marie, who is on the beach, sees the child's danger and saves her. In the excitement of the moment, Marie and John do not look at each other. Both work over Alice. As signs of life appear, they glance up and incidentally recognize each otlier. Marie sees all. -V happy home is preserved, and Marie, to whom John has become to mean a great deal, makes an effort to forget him in a return to her career. LUBIN HIS RE-WARD (Sept. 20).— Auntie, who is exceedingly homely, is always fond of butting in on the young girls' fellows and trying to steal them away. One day on the beach, while they are all enjoying themselves, Auntie appears on the beach in a bathing suit. She is compelled to go in bathing alone, because no one wants to go in with her. While she is in the water she pretends to drown, and Jim, who is sitting with the crowd on the beach, thinking she is really in a precarious situation, starts in the water to rescue her. He carries her out of the water, and while the crowd arc all cheering. Auntie declares that she will marry her preserver, but Jim swears that she won't. He climbs on top of the boardwalk and throws shells down on her to drive her away, and at length succeeds. She decides to lay for another victim, and when she sees Paul walking along the beach she drowns for his benefit. Paul is about to make a heroic rescue when Jim arrives on the scene and dissuades him. About this time Jack happens along and, seeing Auntie in the water, is about to rush in and save her when he is stopped by Jim, Paul and the crowd and told that this is her scheme for getting a man and that she will want to marry him. He, like the rest, is willing to let her drown. W hile they are all watching her antics in the water she decides that no one is coming to rescue her, so she calmly stands up in the water, which is only waist deep, and walks ashore. The crowd all enjoy a good laugh at Auntie's expense. TRUE FEATURES THE MISER'S WARD (3 Reels).— An old miser sees with great alarm that his young and pretty ward is in love with a handsome youth. He knows that upon her marriage he must give up the precious hoard, which belongs to his ward, but upon which he has come to look as his own property. He resorts to all the tricks that miserly guardians have been famous for in romance from time immemorial. He locks the pretty ward in an attic, only to find that love laughs at locksmiths. W'ith the assistance of her daring lover, who thinks nothing of climbing up a wall almost one hundred feet high, she succeeds in escaping, and now follows a pursuit, and this pursuit is full of laughs and thrilling incidents. The young Romeo is found to be as resourceful as he is ardent in his love. Scaffolding of his own invention helps him to run away from the old miser. Just when it seems as if the lovers will be caught they have an improvised ambulance come to their rescue, and at another danger point they escape by giving the old man the scent of the wrong auto. There is, of course, no doubt about the end of all this. After all these hairbreadth escapes by land and by water, the lovers get into the office of the justice of the peace just a lap ahead of the old miser. They get married in haste but never repented at leisure. THE CYCLIST'S LAST LAP (3 Reels).— LTps and downs of a man in the world of sports are proverbial, and the case of Surry, the cycler, formed no exception to the rule. Surry, the cycler, takes part in a great international motor cycle race and returns winner and at once becomes a hero to the friends of the sport. Two young girls are rivals for the affection of the great cyclist. One, the love of his youth, and the other the daughter of a powerful cycle manufacturer. He marries the daughter of the latter. To advertise his cycle the prospective fatherin-law of Surry ties him up with a contract in which he promises never to use any cycle but such as are manufactured by him. Surry is now in the ascendant. Sudden acquisition to wealth does not in any way diminish his love of the sport of motor cycling and he is again entered in a race more important and sensational than the first, out of which he comes victor. It is in the second race that he establislies the world's record of one mile in 52 >S seconds. Through a trick of his rejected sweetheart it is made to appear that Surry has been guilty of a violation of the racing laws, and he is disqualified and heavily fined. From this time forward the star of Surry begins to wane. He is barred from most of the courses and when at l:ist he succeeds in getting an engagement he meets with a fearful accident which for a long time destroys his ability as a rider, and he is greatly distressed by poverty. A rich widow, greatly interested in sports, engages him ,\s her chauffeur. She pots him for a while but soon tires of him. Ho is again on the ragged edge of poverty. It is, however, a long lane that has no turning. Stirry sticceeds in saving tlie life of a woman who is in imminent danger of being killed by a horse. It turns out that the woman he saved was his wife. The prejudices of the father-in-law are now conquered and a reconciliation takes place. AMERICAN MRS. CARTER'S CAMPAIGN (Sept. 25).— A Woman's Clean City Club of Cartcrsville sends the Mayor a reminder of his promise