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1914Thanhouser CompanyOne reelDrama

A Gentleman for a Day

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

“Leland is spanked by his mother for going in swimming. A rich little girl, passing in an automobile, laughs at him. Leland wishes he were a rich boy. He falls asleep and dreams that his mother is wealthy and that he is sent to a private school. There he meets Helen, the little girl who laughed at him. The boys who used to play with him call him ‘Sissy’ now. Leland awakes to find it all a dream, and, when his mother tells him he can go swimming, he runs joyfully off to join his playmates.”

Summary from Reel Life · 11 July 1914

What the papers said

3 reviews

“A satisfactory children’s film, showing how a small boy dreams that he is rich and wakes to be glad, after all, that he is poor. The acting of the various clever juvenile performers concerned is quite delightful and largely atones for the comparative absence of plot.”

The Bioscope · 12 November 1914

“A typical specimen of the genus small boy receives a severe chastisement from his mother, who is not of the class that believes in mental suasion, for going in swimming without permission. A rich little girl, passing in her automobile immediately thereafter, laughs at him. He falls asleep and dreams that he is a rich boy. He meets the little …

Read in full · 1 min

“A typical specimen of the genus small boy receives a severe chastisement from his mother, who is not of the class that believes in mental suasion, for going in swimming without permission. A rich little girl, passing in her automobile immediately thereafter, laughs at him. He falls asleep and dreams that he is a rich boy. He meets the little girl and decides she’s not so wonderful. Also the boys who used to play with him call him ‘Sissy’ now. He comes to the conclusion that the game isn’t worth the candle and when his mother tells him he can go swimming he joyfully joins his comrades.”

The Morning Telegraph · 12 July 1914

More reviews

25 July 1914The Moving Picture World1 min

“A pretty picture, giving a dream that a poor boy has in which he thinks he is a rich boy. It has a thoroughly delightful comedy prologue full of poetry and childhood spirit, and the dream scenes are graceful and full of beauty. All the chief players are children and among them that most charming of child players, the Kidlet, is prominent. A picture that will be wholly enjoyed.”

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Cast and crew

Cast
Ethel Jewett
Ethyle Cooke as his mother
Helen Badgley as Helen, who laughs at him
Janet Henry
Leland Benham as Leland, a little boy
Roy Hauck as his playmate
Writer
Philip Lonergan

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

This film, although far short of a full reel in length, was designated by Thanhouser as one reel.

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1914 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “A Gentleman for a Day”. thanhouser.org/films/a-gentleman-for-a-day/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known