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1916FalstaffOne reelComedy

Peterson’s Pitiful Plight

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

“Peterson falls in love with his bookkeeper, Rosemary. He takes her out to lunch and has much ado to avoid his creditors. To get rid of them he convinces them that Rosemary is a millionairess, and that after marrying her, he would repay them with compound interest. He then makes haste to propose to her and she accepts him. Then things begin to happen. His creditors invade his home, at first singly, then in twos, then in battalions. He introduces them as uncles and granduncles and what-nots. Nothing avails in the end. His creditors monopolize his office. His discarded sweetheart serves him with a summons, while a sheriff stands guard at his home. Numerous officials attempt to arrest Peterson. Each claims him as his own, and they decide to fight it out among themselves. The noise attracts Rosemary, who hastens to Peterson’s assistance. Peterson decides to make his escape with her. Pulling Rosemary after him he makes a dash for liberty. When he is in danger of being captured he spies an auto, and by means of it breaks through the cordon of his pursuers.”

Summary from Reel Life · 27 May 1916

What the papers said

1 review

“This pictures the adventures of a young businessman who marries while up to his ears in debt. His creditors pursue him constantly and he pretends they are relatives. There are not enough plot complications in this; it is only mildly interesting as it stands.”

The Moving Picture World · 10 June 1916

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Cast and crew

Cast
Bert Delaney as Peterson
Elise Jordan as Peterson’s former sweetheart
Gladys Leslie as his wife
Writer
Lloyd F. Lonergan

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

Watch instead

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes

The title was listed erroneously as Perkin’s Pitiful Plight, with an incorrect first word and a misplaced apostrophe, in a schedule printed in the May 27, 1916 issue and an article in the June 3, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World.

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, “Peterson’s Pitiful Plight”. thanhouser.org/films/peterson-s-pitiful-plight/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known