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1910Thanhouser Company750 feetDrama

A 29-Cent Robbery

No copy you can watch online. No print is known to survive. What follows is what does: the release, the cast, the story, and what the trade press said at the time.

The story

“A marauder visits the home of little Edna Robinson, and is preparing to loot the house when he is frightened away by the entrance of the child. All he managed to take with him was Edna’s toy bank, which contained the sum of 29 cents. But Edna grieves so bitterly about the loss of the bank that the parents decide to notify the police of the theft. ‘A 29-cent robbery!’—it is to laugh!—and the police do. In fact, they laugh the parents out of the police headquarters. When the parents tell the child about it she decides to see what she herself can do and call in person at headquarters. The captain is so fascinated by the child that he orders his officers to get busy on the case. They watch for a man carrying a toy bank, and make several arrests. Brought before Edna for identification, the suspects are pronounced guiltless by her and set free. Doubting the ability of the police to round up the right man, Edna secures a police whistle, and does some detective work on her own account. How good a sleuth she is the picture tells; and how good a picture it is we leave to you.”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 9 April 1910

Another synopsis, from The Bioscope · 29 December 19101 min

“A marauder visits the home of little Edna Robinson, and is frightened away by the entrance of the child. All he takes with him is Edna’s toy bank, which contains the sum of 29 cents. Edna grieves so bitterly that her parents decide to notify the police of the theft. But the latter laugh the parents out of the police headquarters. The child decides to see what she herself can do, and calls in person at headquarters. The captain is so fascinated by the child that he orders his officers to get busy on the case, and several men are arrested. Brought before Edna for identification, the subjects are pronounced guiltless. Edna secures a police whistle and does some detective work on her own account, and how good a sleuth she is the picture tells.”

What the papers said

2 reviews · 1 article

“Here is a little too far-fetched story. It tells of a burglar who enters a house and robs a child’s safe containing 29 cents. The parents go to the station house and inform the police officer in charge and ask him to find the robber. When the officer laughs about the matter, and the parents are told that the police …

Read in full · 1 min

“Here is a little too far-fetched story. It tells of a burglar who enters a house and robs a child’s safe containing 29 cents. The parents go to the station house and inform the police officer in charge and ask him to find the robber. When the officer laughs about the matter, and the parents are told that the police department will do nothing about the robbery, the question is dropped. But the child is determined to get back her safe. So she alone goes to the station house and makes the charge. So the story goes on, and the child finally gets the burglar herself. The story is entirely exaggerated, although it is told in an amusing manner.”

The Morning Telegraph · 17 April 1910

“The story of the theft of a toy bank from a child. It is one of those stories that needs a personality of a child to make it interesting. With that it becomes instilled with life and animation, a picture that will appeal by the lovableness of the little girl. Even though the police laugh they decide to get busy …

Read in full · 1 min

“The story of the theft of a toy bank from a child. It is one of those stories that needs a personality of a child to make it interesting. With that it becomes instilled with life and animation, a picture that will appeal by the lovableness of the little girl. Even though the police laugh they decide to get busy on the case, and when they fail the little girl gets to work herself, with better success. The acting is sympathetic and the technical quality is satisfactory.”

The Moving Picture World · 30 April 1910

Article

23 April 1910The Moving Picture World1 min

“Marie Eline, who made a hit as the juvenile Sherlock Holmes in A 29-Cent Robbery, is slated for early use in the production of a classic by the Thanhouser Company. The classic is of the St. Elmo order, rare and rich in heart interest, and of a certain age, but of a strength that has held popular favor decade after decade. Tiny Marie’s part will not be a leading one, for the play calls for no tots in important roles, but readers can be assured that the part, such as it is, will be shown in its best by the tiny star of A 29-Cent Robbery.

“A 29-Cent Robbery was the leading picture on the first reel with two subjects put out by the Thanhouser Company, which event bears date of April 15, 1910. The reel was an experiment; the Thanhouser people were anxious to know if the much talked of ‘split reel’ was in demand. They are now convinced that it is, if not overdone, and the releases of this company will be marked by a variety of ‘split reel’ issues. The next will appear Friday April 29th and will be of a strong comedy flavor, as the titles will indicate. They are She Wanted to Marry a Hero and The Cigars His Wife Bought Him. They are welcome ‘laugh’ editions to any program, the Thanhouser people expect to hear favorably from them.” (See similar article in The New York Dramatic Mirror, reprinted under the She Wanted to Marry a Hero listing.)

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Cast and crew

Cast
Grace Eline
Marie Eline as Edna Robinson, the young girl whose bank is stolen
Photographed by
Blair Smith

Every name opens that person's page, with each film they appear in and which of them you can watch.

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes
  1. Beginning with this film, the release date for Thanhouser pictures was changed to Friday, for only one other Independent company was releasing on that day. This was done at the request of exhibitors, according to a Thanhouser advertisement in The Moving Picture World, April 9, 1910. 2. The production of The Old Shoe Came Back was at the end of this reel. Apparently the total length of this reel was 975 feet, although it was noted separately that the subjects on it were 750 and 250 feet in length respectively. 3. This represented the first film appearance of young Marie Eline, who was to become one of Thanhouser’s best known players.

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1910 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “A 29-Cent Robbery”. thanhouser.org/films/a-29-cent-robbery/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known