1915Thanhouser CompanyOne reelDrama

The Crogmere Ruby

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 Crogmere ruby has disappeared. The New York police receive word from England that a thief supposed to have escaped is on board a certain transatlantic liner, and that Inspector Bolton, of Scotland Yard, also is aboard. The captain of the police meets the boat. When he asks for Inspector Bolton, a tall personage, the veritable impersonation of Sherlock Holmes, presents himself and shows credentials from Scotland Yard. He then points out to the New York authority a certain Mr. Morrison who, he declares, is the jewel thief. Mr. Morrison’s stateroom is searched, and the gem is found in a cake of soap. He is arrested. A young woman interferes. She asks to see the ruby. Miss Maye looks at the stone and cooly announces, ‘It is glass.’ She then points to the pipe in the mouth of the Sherlock Holmes individual. ‘It is the first time since we left the other side,’ she whispers to the captain, ‘that the man’s pipe has not been lit.’ The next instant she has seized the pipe and emptied the bowl. Out falls the tobacco—and the authentic ruby. ‘You’re a bright girl, and you ought to be on the force yourself,’ says the admiring captain. ‘I am on the force,’ she answers demurely. ‘I’m Inspector Bolton, of Scotland Yard. I’ve been watching this fake, who stole my name, all the way over.’”

Summary from Reel Life · 14 August 1915

What the papers said

1 review

“An entertaining detective yarn, with a surprise finish. The thief poses as a Scotland Yard man, but the girl exposes him and turns out to be a sleuth herself. This is pleasing.”

The Moving Picture World · 28 August 1915

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Cast and crew

David Keleher as police captain
Edward Walton as Gray, a wealthy old man
Ethyle Cooke as “Inspector Bolton”
Frank Gereghty as Max, the wireless operator
George Marlo as Jack Morrison
Hector Dion as “Sherlock Holmes”
Leland Benham as Lynn, his grandson
Violet Hite as nurse

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Bowers’ notes

The title was listed erroneously as The Grogmere Ruby in a schedule in The Moving Picture World, August 14, 1915.

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1915 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “The Crogmere Ruby”. thanhouser.org/films/the-crogmere-ruby/

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