1916FalstaffOne reelComedy

Deteckters

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

“Oscar and Conrad were retired when a husky sheriff appeared at their office and threw them out in the street. They did not know what to do. Still opportunity is waiting and a chance came their way. The star of the Frivolity Theatre, adorable Adelina, had disappeared, and a reward was offered for her return. Oscar and Conrad went earnestly to work. According to the description she wore a large black hat and striped silk stockings, and the men hunted for a girl with striped silk stockings. They found several, but got into more or less trouble while doing so. Finally Conrad was smuggled into the theatre in a trunk. Owing to the fact that he carried an aggressive watch, he got into fresh difficulties. Adelina heard the ticking, yelled for assistance, and the stagehands threw the trunk into the street. Adelina was promptly nabbed by Oscar and forced to admit her identity. The two men demanded the reward for discovering adorable Adelina, and the press agent gladly gave two tickets for the evening performance.”

Summary from Reel Life · 13 May 1916

What the papers said

1 advertisement

Advertisement

13 May 1916Reel Life1 min

“Claude Cooper & Frank E. McNish start out to become detectives, but it proves unbecoming—in fact, it becomes worse as they become experienced! Oscar & Conrad are legitimate comedians—funny snappy and clean. Get this one! Watch for more!”

Have you seen this film, or a print of it?

Prints of films thought lost still turn up in attics, private collections and archives. A record like this one is how the next one gets found.

Tell us about a print

Cast and crew

Frank E. McNish as Conrad
Gladys Leslie as Adelina

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

Watch instead

Films you can watch from the same company

Matched by cast, director and kind

More about this film

Bowers’ notes

This marked the first appearance of the duo billed as the “Oscar and Conrad” comedy team, consisting of Claude Cooper and Frank E. McNish, two Thanhouser stock players who had appeared in numerous earlier films. The duo appeared on the cover of the April 22, 1916 issue of Reel Life.

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1916 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “Deteckters”. thanhouser.org/films/deteckters/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known