Lost1912Thanhouser CompanyOne reelDrama

On Probation

Name: On Probation
Genre: Drama
Released: 1912-02-02

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

“If you were a lonely, rich old man and there was a child you dearly loved, to whose care would you entrust it? This is a question that many have tried to solve. Some have succeeded, others failed. The pity of it is that there is no chance to correct such an error, once it is made. Death prevents an appeal. A certain old widower had a little granddaughter, and he earnestly desired that she should grow up to be a happy, healthy, wealthy woman. His only other near relatives were his sister and his son. His sister was married and with a boy of her own, while his son was not naturally vicious but was lazy and shiftless. It was destined that one of them should be the guardian of the tiny girl, and it seemed an easy matter to settle. The son loved the girl, it was true, but his habits were against him. The sister, despite the natural love she had for her own family, lavished affection upon her little niece. So the old man made his will just before starting on his yacht to look after some business affairs.

“The captain of the vessel broke the news to the family that the millionaire had been washed overboard and drowned at sea. His will was opened and read. It made the sister the executrix of the estate, which was to be held in trust for five years. At the end of that time, the son, ‘if he had committed no dishonest act,’ was to receive one-half, the sister the other. Should the boy misconduct himself, everything went to the sister, who was also to bring up the little girl as her own. Until the estate was finally divided, the sister was to provide a home for the boy and the girl. Had the old man’s spirit been able to revisit the world, it would have been shocked at what went on after his death was announced. For the sister discarded her sweet, hypocritical ways and made a drudge of the little girl. The child’s toys were taken away, she was banished from her beautifully furnished nursery, and sent to an attic room, where night after night she sobbed herself to sleep. Her only friend was the son, who developed manly traits in time of trouble. The two were badly treated, but there seemed no escape for them. Not content with half the fortune, the grasping sister plotted to get all of it. One dishonest act on the boy’s part would win the fortune for her. He declined to commit it, so she artfully contrived, by a chain of evidence, to make it out that he was a thief. The plot was successful, and when a policeman put his hand on the young man’s shoulders she realized that great wealth was hers. The next second she found that she had lost all. For this particular, lonely, rich old man had found a way to correct a vital error. He had reasoned out how it could be done, and there were no flaws in his plans. The sister he trusted had failed him, but she would not be permitted to enjoy the fruits of her treachery. The son, who had developed into a man under the stress of misfortune, came into a fortune in time, and the little girl did grow up to be a happy woman.”

Summary from The Moving Picture News · 20 January 1912

What the papers said

2 reviews

Read in full · 1 min

“A very satisfying melodrama, a bit overdrawn (that is, it might have been more effective if it had been toned down in the acting), but just as it is, it is sure to please. There was a rich grandfather, his little orphan grandchild (the Thanhouser Kid), a not very energetic brother, and a sister with her husband and little boy. The old man made a will, then went on a journey, and it was reported that he was lost at sea. The will provided for the grandchild and then divided the rest of the estate between the brother and sister, leaving the brother on probation. The old man wasn’t dead; but was watching and saw the poor kid treated like a stepchild by both parents, and the brother made to seem dishonest so that the sister could inherit the whole estate. At the critical moment he reappears and things are straightened out to suit everybody except the evildoers. The photographs are good, the story is kept lively and the picture, which is not quite a safe feature, will serve excellently well in almost any bill.”

REVIEW by C.H. Claudy, The Moving Picture World, February 17, 1912: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

The Moving Picture World · 10 February 1912

Read in full · 1 min

“There is a finish, care and elaboration in the way this story is put on, and it is acted with an understanding and conviction that is perhaps the making of the film. The characters are most typical; whatever falsity may appear is due to the management of the story itself, which would seem to be constructed to meet the requirements of those who must be startled and have their contrasts on broad, theatric lines. The lady casting the child away in the garret may be both logical and possible, but one has the feeling that under the circumstances she carried the thing a little farther than she would have dared to do in life. Likewise one would desire to see a little more conflict of emotions when she and her husband plotted to ruin her brother’s reputation. It is, however, possessed of many lifelike qualities due to its fine directing and management. To test his sister the man involved pretends to go on a journey and is thought to be lost. In reality he is hiding. A provision of his will is that his young granddaughter should be given a home and properly cared for, and that if at the end of a year [sic; synopsis says five years] his younger brother, whom he had considered a worthless sort of chap, had done nothing to dishonor his name he should inherit part of the estate. The sister at length calls the child to be living in the garret, an outcast, while the day the six months [sic] is up she and her husband caused him to be implicated in a theft that he did not commit. At this point the grandfather stepped out of a picture—that is indeed a startling effect, but one whose use might be questioned for general dramatic purposes.”

The New York Dramatic Mirror · 7 February 1912

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Cast and crew

Cast: James Cruze as “The old man who watches from behind a painting and rights the wrong,” according to a note in The Moving Picture World
: Joseph Graybill as “the younger brother,” according to The Moving Picture World and The New York Dramatic Mirror
: Justus D. Barnes as the rich old widower
: Leland Benham
: Marie Eline as the little orphan granddaughter
: Viola Alberti as “the wife,” according to The Moving Picture World

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes: It is not clear from contemporary accounts whether it was Justus D. Barnes or James Cruze who took the role of the widower.

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, “On Probation”. thanhouser.org/films/on-probation/

Where a print is held

Held by: No print known