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1910Thanhouser Company1,000 feetDrama

A Fresh Start

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

“Jim, an expert chauffeur, is discharged from a garage, for insobriety. Penniless and being unable to obtain a new situation, he takes to the road, a common tramp. At one house where he applies for food, he is harshly refused, and is about to turn away and try his luck elsewhere, when little Marie, the daughter of the house, comes to his assistance and orders the butler to at once give him the food he requires. She also picks a rose for him from the garden. Jim strolls into a nearby park and sits on a bench to enjoy his lunch. He is about to take a drink from the ever-present flask, which he takes from his pocket, when the sight of the rose, which the sweet-faced little girl gave him, inspires him with a desire to reform. He throws the flask from him, and refreshed by the lunch, he starts out with a new ambition to face the world.

“Little Marie also visits the park with her parents. While viewing the wonderful zoo it contains she is seen and recognized by Jim. While admiring the little girl and viewing her enjoyment over the wonders of the zoo, Jim notices that two evil-looking men are apparently shadowing the little one and her parents. Jim’s suspicions are aroused, and he determines to watch closely the actions of the mysterious pair. He finds that they have arranged with a chauffeur to assist in carrying off little Marie and holding her for ransom. Seizing an opportune moment, Jim forces the plotting chauffeur to turn over his auto, and disguised in the other man’s coat, cap and goggles, he calmly awaits the conspirators. When the two wicked men return, after having successful enticed Marie away from her parents, they give the driver of their auto directions as to where to drive. Jim simply nods assent and drives quickly off, but instead of taking them to the destination they directed, he lands them safe at the police station, where they are quickly taken into custody. Here Marie is united to her parents, whom she easily persuades to offer her rescuer a life position.”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 3 September 1910

What the papers said

2 reviews

“A melodramatic recital of a chauffeur’s sudden reform in a thrilling rescue of a girl stolen by men who expect a ransom. He takes the subsidized chauffeur’s place and drives the lovely duet to the police station. As a reward he gets a life position, so favorably do the fates conspire in his behalf. Pictures like this might serve as …

Read in full · 1 min

“A melodramatic recital of a chauffeur’s sudden reform in a thrilling rescue of a girl stolen by men who expect a ransom. He takes the subsidized chauffeur’s place and drives the lovely duet to the police station. As a reward he gets a life position, so favorably do the fates conspire in his behalf. Pictures like this might serve as an encouragement to reformation, but it is better to consider them as a species of entertainment, not to be despised, and yet, on the other hand, not to be accepted too literally.”

The Moving Picture World · 17 September 1910

“Although the story of the film does not promise a great deal, the scenes are developed with enough care for details to carry it easily. More is due to the stage management in this case than to the author. A chauffeur, dismissed for no reason by his employer, is down and out. Resorting to beggary, he is kindly treated by …

Read in full · 1 min

“Although the story of the film does not promise a great deal, the scenes are developed with enough care for details to carry it easily. More is due to the stage management in this case than to the author. A chauffeur, dismissed for no reason by his employer, is down and out. Resorting to beggary, he is kindly treated by a little girl whom he later repays by rescuing her from two abductors. The grateful parents immediately give him a new chance at which he doubtless makes good. Except for the point where the beggar overhears the accomplices, the acting is good. The impossible parts of the plot are gracefully omitted—the abduction itself, and the overpowering of the chauffeur who was in the plot. In the last scene it is noted that the occupants of the automobile all disembark into the middle of the street instead of upon the sidewalk. Doubtless their excitement excuses their indiscretion.”

The New York Dramatic Mirror · 10 September 1910

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Cast and crew

Cast
Marie Eline

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More about this film

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 Fresh Start”. thanhouser.org/films/a-fresh-start/

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