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A frame from Orator, Knight and Cow Charmer. Production still with Mignon Anderson and William Russell.

1912Thanhouser CompanyOne reelComedy

Orator, Knight and Cow Charmer

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

“It was the most important of political campaigns (to Congressman Casey) because he was running for re-election. It was also interesting to his enemies, owing to the fact that they hoped to defeat him. One of these enemies was the editor of the opposition paper, and when he heard that the distinguished statesman was to deliver a noonday address in a nearby town, he decided to ‘stir him up.’ To accomplish this, he enlisted the aid of his star cartoonist, in appearance a modest, neat little girl, but one who was gifted with fiendish ability with a pencil. The cartoonist went to the village and on her way to the meeting place made two acquaintances, one a cow, the other Congressman Casey. The cow galloped to meet her, and she was thoroughly convinced that ‘he’ meant to bite her. Then the gallant congressman appeared, rescued her from the ferocious beast, and escorted her to the scene of his oratorical triumph.

“Then the girl, having a sense of humor, drew a funny picture of herself, the cow and the congressman, and had it printed in her paper. The girl thoroughly enjoyed it; the cow didn’t even say ‘moo,’ but the congressman was as mad as a contesting delegation at the national convention. He had no idea of the identity of the artist, but determined to be revenged. He took a large horsewhip and went to the newspaper office, intending to get satisfaction. It took him some time to get into the art room, as he was obliged to thrash several indefensive reporters enroute. Then he found the artist, a trembling, frightened little girl. It was ridiculous to expect that he could horsewhip her. He didn’t have the heart even to scold her. For the first time in his life, the dignified statesman had a sense of humor, and shaking his finger at the girl he said, ‘Young woman, the next time I find a cow chasing you I’ll let you stay up the tree for the rest of your life.’”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 14 September 1912

What the papers said

2 reviews · 1 advertisement

This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

The Morning Telegraph · 22 September 1912

“A well-acted comedy in which a girl cartoonist (Miss Anderson) and Casey, a politician (Mr. Russell) with the help of a cow and a real, live mouse furnish some genuine amusement. A scene in which the cow trees the girl is particularly laughable. No less though is Casey’s rage and retaliation when having rescued the girl she turns his gallantry …

Read in full · 1 min

“A well-acted comedy in which a girl cartoonist (Miss Anderson) and Casey, a politician (Mr. Russell) with the help of a cow and a real, live mouse furnish some genuine amusement. A scene in which the cow trees the girl is particularly laughable. No less though is Casey’s rage and retaliation when having rescued the girl she turns his gallantry to ungrateful advantage by drawing a comic of him as ‘Orator, Knight and Cow Charmer.’ He sends a mouse to her in a box of candy for revenge and marries her to finish the joke. The pictures are well composed.”

The Moving Picture World · 28 September 1912

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11 September 1912The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

“A story that is typically and charmingly American, dealing as it does with newspaper editors, angry politicians, newspaper cartoonists, and angry cows. The surprise is the cartoonist. She is pretty, also clever. Her cleverness with a sketch pencil caused the whole rumpus that caused this film.”

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

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Cast and crew

Cast
Mignon Anderson as girl cartoonist
William Russell as Congressman Casey

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
  1. In its December 1912 issue, The Moving Picture Story Magazine incorrectly assigned the lead male role to James Cruze. The film title was given incompletely as Orator. 2. The congressman’s name was given as “Carey” in a synopsis in the Bioscope, December 19, 1912. 3. Congressman Casey was also the name of a character in A Dainty Politician, released August 23, 1910.
Posters and media
Still for Orator, Knight and Cow Charmer. Production still with Mignon Anderson and William Russell.

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, “Orator, Knight and Cow Charmer”. thanhouser.org/films/orator-knight-and-cow-charmer/

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