Moving Picture News (Jul-Oct 1913)

26 THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS poach and sell contraband whisky, and he does so. He even goes so far as to aspire to the hand of one of the officer's daughters. He would take her away with him. She is willing to go, but the father, hard, according to the ways of the country, learns of their intentions, follows and shoots "The Wolf" as he deserts his sweetheart and slinks through the woods. Wounded, "The Wolf" staggers over the rocks and slips into the treacherous rapids. "Big Bill," the "hootch seller," finds the man writhing in pain, his eye torn out. He takes "The Wolf" to his hut, where his daughter assists in nursing him back to strength. It would seem, in the ensuing action, that there was a shifting of "The Wolf's" character after this incident. He is a man of low instincts and finds no trouble in transferring his affections to Bill's daughter. But he experiences an overmastering desire for revenge against the officer, and he seeks other men to do it. He hunts the officer out in his own home. His first shot fails to reach its mark. Warned, the officer gots out to hunt "The Wolf," and what follows is one of the most engrossing parts of the piece. The officer is led, through the cunning of "The Wolf," into a bear trap. However, "The Wolf," heeding the strange workings of his nature, tempers his desire for revenge and, after the officer has spent the night in the trap, he is freed. Alone, "The Wolf" sits by the stream questioning his own actions. The point of a gun edges its way above the rocks; there is a sharp report. Two women clothe the body for burial. Two women bow their heads and pray over the rude bier, for both had loved the strange man. 101 BISON SHON, THE PIPER (Sept. 30).— The action is laid in the latter part of the eighteenth century while the story revolves about a young Scotch duke who, determined not to marry one seeking his money, searches for adventure in the Highlands, disguised as a piper. He meets, during his wanderings, Madge, the daughter of Donald Maclvor. They fall in love at sight. Unaware of Shon's real identity, the old father refuses to sanction the match. He prefers to give his daughter to the wealthy Laird of the Isla. When the girl carries th'S news to her lover he tells her to "Be of good cheer, my bonny lass; I'll pipe them a tune of another class." The wedding day is fixed and the Laird leads his melancholy fiancee forth. Shon visits the feast in the garb of a harpist. He amuses the guests for awhile and then, throwing off his disguise, escapes with Madge from a window. But previous to this, Shon has called his clan together and when speeding away to his mansion, they cover his retreat. What follows is a remarkably thrilling and fresh piece of business; a battle between two kilted Scotch clans. And then the title of the youth is discovered and all ends well. IMP HIS PRICELESS TREASURE (Oct. 4).— The Palace Hotel at Loneliville is in a bad way financially, and poor Fritz, the janitor, is worn out doing duty as bellboy, janitor and clerk. Percy Fritz Noodle arrives in Loneliville and puts up at the Palace. Ere he even sees his room he entrusts to the manager a small mysterious box which Percy impressively tells him is worth a million to him. Fritz gets this information, and a plot to rob the safe of this priceless treasure enters his head. Securing the cook as an accomplice he later robs the safe and gets away. The manager, horrorstricken, and Percy, on the verge of hyster cs, call up the scientific detective, Isador Cohn and through him the guilty pair are traced by scientific methods. Cohn, at a loss where to find tliem, is inspired by the sight of three toy balloons in the hands of a street vendor to watch tlie pawn shop. He does so, and intercepts the thugs as the pawnbroker onens the precious box. With a cry of joy Percy seizes the box and pulls therefrom a curling lock of hair, which he clasps with a fervent "TTER.S." The indignation of the crowd turn on the helpless Percy and he is unceremoniously kicked out, still clasping his priceless treasure. EDISON THE COMEDIAN'S DO'WNFALL (Sept. 1'7).-When Hoh l!\isler, the famous comedian, .saw Semolina Brown sitting on a park bench one morning, his heart filled to the point of overflowing. For Semolina was unmistakably a militant suffragette and she was just the type Buster had been looking for. So Buster sat down on the next bench and made a careful sketch of her. It was a singularly unfortunate thing that the suffragettes should select Thursday night for their rally in Holborn Hall, because on that same night Mr. Bob Buster was scheduled to appear at the Holborn Club in his latest character sketch. "Holborn Hall" does sound very much like "Holborn Club" if two people happen to be in a great hurry, and that is probably the reason that Bob Buster, dressed in the costume he had carefully copied from Semolina, was enthusiastically greeted by an excited throng of women, while Semolina was clapped on the back by several jovial men and congratulated on the excellence of her makeup. Semolina realized that a mistake had been made when she saw from the stage of the Holborn Club that the entire audience was composed of men. None the less, she was by no means averse to making a few converts, and she plunged into her fervent speech. Naturally enough, the crowd, still thinking her to be Buster, roared and Semolina, infuriated, leaped from the platform and smote a stout individual in the front row, who seemed to be particularly amused. A small riot followed and Semolina was dragged from the building by two policemen. Poor Buster rushed on the stage at Holborn Hall without realizing in the least where he was, and remarked: "To begin with, let me say that I firmly believe a woman's place is in the home." He never exactly remembered what happened after that. He had a confused recollection of a chorus of wrathful feminine shrieks, and after that he was being interrogated by an indignant police sergeant. After that he was shown into a cell. In the cell was Semolina. The rest is too painful. SELIG THE CAPTURE OF "BAD BROWN."— "Bad Brown," a cattle rustler, finding things slow in his locality, proceeds to fill up with red liquor, and then starts to shoot up the frontier settlement. About the time he has got everybody behind doors, the stage rolls into town, and 'Bad Brown" almost scares Pat and Biddy, the new arrivals, to death with his noisy fusillade, and the dangerous proximity of his wild shooting. Buck comes in like an innocent spectator at this time; but does not get injured, in fact, he soundly trounces the drunken rustler, thereby earning the everlasting gratitude of Pat and Biddy. All this does not sober Brown, and he is inclined to commit more serious crimes than to merely get drunk, so the sheriff comes along and swears in Buck, as one of his posse. "Bad Brown," however, has a pretty daughter, Marie, and Buck is in love with her. He compels his daughter to hide him, but after a series of dashing aaventures. Buck routs him out and starts the old offender off to jail. The girl's relationship at the time with the old man was unknown bv the dashing Buck, but she admits, afterward, that he is her father. She feels, however, the need of a better protector so much that she accepts the fearless hand of Buck for life. REX LIKE DARBY AND JOAN (Oct. B).— "Together in work, together in play, with a good word to all who came their way." Such had been the lives of the aged couple, and as their years advanced toward the time of lengthening shadows the more eager they were to temper their effort of judgment with compassion. A stranger dropped into the quietude of the simple fisher village, and because his city ways had calloused the more tender sensibilities of his better nature, he forgot the rustic conception of the term "sweetheart." Wanton flirting ended in phvsical struggle between the youth who really loved and the man whose infatuation was but a whim. It was then that the aged coviple intervened and used the power of moral recitation to bring into existence the power of right. And as the angry combatants paused to listen. Darby told his story. Way back in early years a similar condition between virtue and a more careless man had taken place. The brawny husband of the modest wife ignored the process of legal right in punishing the culprit who dared an attempt to add a blemish to the sanctity of wedlock. A'ded by a couple of his companions, mere simple folk who knew not the careless indif ference of city ways, the pleading offender wa« taken far out to sea and cast adrift, and when the offender's wife searched the rocky stretch of neighboring shore, she found him — and even though his hair was matted and his features drawn in struggle, the wife wept and mourned his loss. As the story finished the listening offender realized the purity of the white haired couple that sought to save one who might invade like conditions of fisher felicity. His eyes softened with his realization that — "This life would be sweet and naught to atone. If only we were like Darby and Joan." CRYSTAL THE NORWOOD CASE (Oct. 6).— Richard Norwood leaves his wife to go to his business. On the way he passes an empty lot where the toughs are beat.ng another man. He interferes and the thugs set upon him. He is struck over the head and rendered unconscious. They rob him, and thinking him dead, strip him of . his clothes and substitute some of their own so as to make identification well nigh impossible. Meanwhile Norwood's wife is an.xiously awaiting his return and as the hours fly by and she still receives no word from her husband she becomes alarmed. An investigation is started, but no trace can be found of the missing man. Norwood, having been found, is taken to a hospital where upon recovering his senses, he is absolutely lost in memory, his mind on all events of the past being an absolute blank. He is discharged from the hosp tal and not knowing his whereabouts goes West. He obtains a job as a stone cutter and toils at this work for a period of eight years. Meanwhile his wife, not having heard from him in any way, shape or form makes up her mind that he is dead. She is paid attention by a very wealthy man and after much persuasion agrees to marry him. Norwood, who has now assumed the name of Tom Jones, falls in love with his landlady's daughter and after a brief, crude courtship they are married. A child is born to bless their union and they are happy in each other's love. Norwood's first wife finally marries her wealthy suitor. Norwood on the job, one day, is holding a guy rope, attached to a derrick which is hoisting an enormous amount of rock at a dizzy height. The rope breaks and Norwood falls and hits his head on the stone. He is rendered unconscious. The fall restores his lost memory and he determines to find his first wife. He leaves his present wife and child and returns to his old haunts. There he enters his old home and finds his wife with her new husband. He sees that he has lost absolutely all right to his wife by his loiig absence and being still in love with h-s second wife, he returns to her and their child, keeping them in ignorance of his previous marriage and loss of memory. RELIANCE THE HARDEST WAY (Sept. 22).— Jane, the wife of a convict, receives a letter from Bud, her husband, telling her that he will be home next dav and is going to keep straight for her and their daughter Runa's sake, and so that he won't be tempted, he asks her to do away with a bag of tools which he has hidden hack of the fire board in their bed-room. Wife, overjoved, hides the tools in a nearby wood pile. Bud arrives home, finds work in a lumber yard, but his boss loses some money and Bud is unjustly suspected of stealing it. Boss reports his loss at the police station while Bud. discouraged, goes home and think'ng it no use to be honest any longer forces his wife and Runa to tell where they put the burglar tools. He then starts out with the intention of having the game as well as the name. The detectives are now on his trail, and see him with the bag of tools in his possession. Bud eludes them and gets back to his shack just in time to put the tools back in the old h ding place. The detective's trail him to the shack, burst in the door, and searcli the house. Runa. in the bed-room, has seen her fatner replace the tools. She knows they are bad and decides to throw them in the river where her papa will never get them tigain. She escapes unseen with the tools. The detectives have found the letter describing the hiding place of th'' tools, and think they have Bud dead to rights, but get left when they go to the fireplace and find that the tools arc gone. Tlicv read the letter again — think perhaps they did make a mistake and that Bud does intend to load a better life. They exit. Meantime Bud's boss discovers that h's money was stolen liy a discharged emnloyce. He asks Bud's forgiveness and tells Bud to come back to work, so Uuna unconsciously averts a near tragedy.