1912Thanhouser CompanyDocumentary

Old Bess

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.

Background of the scenario

This film, not a regular release, was produced to be shown at a local New Rochelle event, as delineated in the New Rochelle Evening Standard, June 24 1912: “Three new Thanhouser motion pictures will be shown at the Firemen’s Pension Fund benefit and vaudeville next Friday night in the Little Theatre. Besides these there will be a picture of Old Bess, the first horse owned by the local fire department, since retired and doing service as the commissioner’s horse. She will be shown in action. There will be a picture of Chief Ross in action in his office at fire headquarters. Fire Commissioner George W. Floyd, who is directing the arrangements for the entertainment, said this morning that he would advise all holders of tickets for the show to have them exchanged on Thursday for reserved seats so as to avoid a rush at the box office on Friday night.”

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Cast and crew

Old Bess as horse

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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 1912 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “Old Bess”. thanhouser.org/films/old-bess/

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No print known