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1916Than-O-PlayThree reelsComedy

The Burglars’ Picnic

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

“The midnight escape of a crowd of mischievous schoolgirls is turned into a dangerous adventure, full of thrills and moments of breathless suspense, in The Burglars’ Picnic, a three-part Than-O-Play scheduled for release by the Mutual Film Corporation. Marion and Madeline Fairbanks, the beautiful twin girls who have brought fame to the Thanhouser studios, are featured as the fun-loving ringleaders. Their daring becomes heroism in the sensational capture of two crooks. There is an unexpected sequel to the story in which one of the twins’ burglars proves that every law-breaker is not a hardened criminal.

“The twins lead a midnight expedition from Miss Beardsley’s into the woods to revel in a moonlight picnic. One of the professors sees them vanishing thither, carrying a big basket. In dressing-gown and slippers he gives chase. The old, near-sighted professor loses one of his slippers and cuts his foot on his broken glasses. Discovering his plight, the girls take pity on him. They try to overtake him. Meanwhile, the professor comes upon a deserted house. He mistakes two figures on the porch for the runaway twins. One of them takes to the woods. The other darts indoors, followed by the professor. When the twins reach the place they discover under a window a bag of loot, and on the sill a bloody footprint. Realizing that burglars have got the professor, and feeling that they are to blame, Marion and Madeline bravely enter the house. Then is enacted a thrilling drama, in which the rest of the picnic party fortunately arrives to reinforce the twins, and by the time the police arrive the burglars are found suffocating under an avalanche of girls.

“At Christmas time, going home on the train, the twins see their burglars again. They are marched on board by two deputies, taking them to state prison, and one of the crooks attempts to attack Marion and Madeline. The other one, however, seems so sincerely contrite, that the twins induce the deputy to loosen the shackle about his wrist. The train is wrecked. The two deputies and one of the burglars are killed. But the twins are saved. They conceal the identity of the other burglar from inquisitive reporters and take him home. Their father gives the man a chance on his estate. The governor is prevailed upon to pardon the former crook. Today he is the twins’ father’s chauffeur.”

Summary from Reel Life · 22 January 1916

What the papers said

1 review

“A three-reel subject with pleasing juvenile interest, by Clinton H. Stagg. The Fairbanks Twins are featured. They and their schoolgirl chums go into the woods for a midnight picnic. The old professor follows, loses his glasses and gets into a deserted house where two burglars are making headquarters. The girls appear and the burglars are captured. The later scenes, on …

Read in full · 1 min

“A three-reel subject with pleasing juvenile interest, by Clinton H. Stagg. The Fairbanks Twins are featured. They and their schoolgirl chums go into the woods for a midnight picnic. The old professor follows, loses his glasses and gets into a deserted house where two burglars are making headquarters. The girls appear and the burglars are captured. The later scenes, on the wrecked train, contain more action and the close is satisfying. There is no effort at sensationalism, the pleasing results being obtained by a natural development of the story. The Twins are very attractive in this.”

The Moving Picture World · 5 February 1916

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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.

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Cast and crew

Director
William Parke
Cast
Billy Swan as crooks
Charles Turner as deputies
Charles William Swan
Everett Joseph Sullivan
Everett Sullivan
J.H. Gilmour as their father
John H. Gilmour
John Lehnberg
Madeline Fairbanks
Marion Fairbanks
William Burt as professor
William P. Burt
Writer
Clinton H. Stagg

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. The title was punctuated as The Burglar’s Picnic in several trade schedules, including in The Moving Picture World and The New York Dramatic Mirror. However, Thanhouser advertising listed it with the apostrophe after the “s.” 2. In some notices, J.H. Gilmour was listed as “Jack Gilmore.”

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, “The Burglars’ Picnic”. thanhouser.org/films/the-burglars-picnic/

Where a print is held

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