Reel Life (1916-1917)

“WON BY ONE”— BEAUTY One Reel. — A Mixup in Jewels in Which the Suspected One Finally Triumphs, Despite Odds. Connie . Wallace MacDonald Louie . Dick Rosson Fanny . Neva Gerber Connie and Louie, representing rival “fake jewelry” con¬ cerns, arrive in Squedunk. Both fall in love with Fanny, the belle of the town. There is no question in Fanny’s mind about the one she likes best, for Louie has won her heart. Each of these ardent admirers, in the effort to outdo the other, overwhelm her with jewelry. Then a big jewelry robbery occurs in New York. Connie at once sees his chance to be rid of his rival. He tells Jeff, the oversuspicious town constable, that Louie must have perpetrated the crime. To¬ gether they sneak into Louie’s room, where Jeff sees the assortment of jewelry. He places Louie under arrest. They start for New York and the town turns out, en masse, to applaud their valiant protector. When Louie is taken to headquarters they discover his jewelry is “fake stuff.” His concern reads in the newspaper of his arrest, and when Louie reports at the office he is given a big raise in salary because of all this free publicity. Back in Squedunk Con¬ nie has been making violent love to Fanny, who promises to marry him. He insists on being married without any delay. At the last moment he recalls that he has forgotten his wedding present for Fanny and hastens back to his room in the village hotel, where he gets the long fake pearl neck¬ lace. As he passes through the lobby, the necklace breaks. Jeff, ever on the job, finds pearl after pearl. Scenting mystery he follows the trail, arriving finally at Fanny’s home, where the ceremony is about to be performed. He bursts into the house just as Connie takes from his pocket the empty string, and places him under arrest. Louie, re¬ turning, sees Connie being taken to the jail. He grasps the situation and prevails upon Fanny to marry him then and there. At Louie’s suggestion Connie is compelled to act as “best man” and then marched back into his cell. * * * * * “BOOMING THE BOXING BUSINESS”— FALSTAFF One Reel. — Running a Boxing School Is All Right, But It All Depends on the Pupils You Have. Professor Biff . Frank E. McNish His Helper . Claude Cooper Frank McNish and Claude Cooper in the New Falstaff Comedy, “Booming the Boxing Business.” Wallace MacDonald in “Won by One a New Beauty Comedy. Champion Pugilist . Billy Swan His Sweetheart . Isolde Illian Mrs. Henpeck . Carey Hastings Biff’s Fistic Academy was in trouble. Pupils had fallen off to an alarming extent. Hence it was with delight that he welcomed a suggestion from Jim, his faithful helper. Jim loved the professor and was anxious to see business improve, one reason being that his own wages were much in arrears. Jim’s plan was this. He would go out in dis¬ guise and insult respectable citizens who apparently had bank rolls. At the proper moment the Professor would stroll on, defend the victim and thrash Jim. He would then give the man one of his cards, and, if lucky, land a pupil. The scheme worked like a charm in some cases. They did strike a snag when Jim tackled a meek-looking man, and his wife, a suffragette, proved conclusively that she did not need any boxing lessons. Disaster came, how¬ ever, when the helper met a pleasant young man in the park, talking to a pretty girl. Jim flirted with the girl, and was driven away by Biff. Then things went along for a while as Biff liked to see them. The young man simply yearned to take a boxing lesson. And at the appointed time he ar¬ rived at the academy. Without warning conditions changed. The young man beat and battered Biff until he howled for mercy. Then he accused the helper of “sneering” at his kind-hearted employer, and polished him off also. After which he wrote a note, left it on a side table, and departed. The two bruised gladiators got the note and read it. Here’s what it said : “You Poor Boobs — I spotted you rehearsing your plot before you tackled me, and I jollied you along. Thanks for the exercise.” It was signed by a well-known member of the fistic fra¬ ternity. “I think,” said Professor Biff, sadly, as he finished read¬ ing the note. “I think that we will cut out high financiering in this game and stick to the tricks we know.” They did. * * * * * Jerry’s Millions is the title of a snappy Cub comedy fea¬ turing the eccentric and agile George Ovey, released Febru¬ ary 11. George gets nearly rich, gets nearly married, gets punched, pursued and pinched and, as usual, regains con¬ sciousness to find most of it all is not true. George’s foot work is excellent. Jerry’s Millions is a typical Cub release which is a guaranty of box office results. REEL LIFE — Page Nine