1915FalstaffOne reelComedy

Clarence Cheats at Croquet

A frame from Clarence Cheats at Croquet

12:24 running time · Score: Ben Model · theatre organ · Vimeo uses cookies · Privacy

Why watch it

12 minutes, and what to watch for

In this "Falstaff" comedy, two rivals face off at croquet. One wins out because of his honesty and Clarence gets it wrong because he cheats.

The story

“Clarence, the idol of his native village, is the star of the Croquet Club. He bears himself creditably until the return of Peter, the pitcher, formerly a member of the National Baseball League. Peter, to please Alicia, the president of the Croquet Club, tries to take an interest in croquet. He arouses the animosity of Clarence. Blows follow, but the pitcher wins. Clarence withdraws, limping with pain. The wicked wicket keeper of the club fans the feud. He induces Clarence to challenge his rival to a croquet match. When it becomes evident to Clarence that the ex-pitcher is going to win, he yields to temptation, and cheats. The wicket keeper catches him in the act, and that night, summons him to his home, where he demands a large sum of money. The aged grandmother of the wicket keeper lies ill. Alicia, coming with broth for the old lady, overhears the conspirators. Bursting open the door, she fearlessly denounces them. The wicket keeper makes her a prisoner. But the grandmother, rising to the emergency, summons the pitcher, who discharges the keeper, and makes Alicia his bride. Clarence still wanders through the streets of his native town, a creature shunned and despised.”

Summary from Reel Life · 27 November 1915

What the papers said

1 review

“This is an ordinary sort of comedy in which two rival lovers have differences, and the one wins out because of his honesty, or rather Clarence gets in wrong because he cheats at croquet. There is considerable amusement to be got out of the comedy.”

The Moving Picture World · 4 December 1915

Cast and crew

Cast
Alfred Hickey as Clarence
Barbara Gilroy as Alicia
Charles Emerson as Peter, the pitcher
Frances Keyes as his aged grandmother
Riley Chamberlin as variously known as “the wicked wicket keeper” and “the wicked wicket wonder”

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes
  1. This film was originally scheduled to be released on November 25, 1915, and many printed schedules bore that date. A release date of December 5, 1915 appears with the synopsis in Reel Life, November 27, 1915, but a schedule printed in the same issue gives the release date of December 9, 1915. The actual release date was December 9, 1915. 2. In the entry under Barbara Gilroy in the Motion Picture News Studio Directory, January 29, 1916, this film is listed as Clarence Koopoy Cheats at Croquet.
Posters and media
Still for Clarence Cheats at Croquet. A frame from Clarence Cheats at Croquet (1915), from the Thanhouser restoration on Vimeo.

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1915 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “Clarence Cheats at Croquet”. thanhouser.org/films/clarence-cheats-at-croquet/

Where copies are held

Completeness
Unknown
Scored by
Ben Model · theatre organ