Lost1914Thanhouser CompanyOne reelComedy

The Elevator Man

Name: The Elevator Man
Genre: Comedy
Released: 1914-01-25

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 old elevator man had been employed in the office building for many years and was treated with much consideration. He had his likes and dislikes, however. A certain young clerk and a very pretty stenographer, employed by one of the firms, especially had won his heart—and he was delighted when they confided to him that they were engaged. Another clerk, higher up in the same company, old Tim despised. When the lovers quarrelled—as all young lovers will—and the pretty girl flirted with the clerk whom Tim disliked, the old elevator man was broken-hearted. Then, he decided to play upon the yellow streak in Williams’ disposition. He did this by means of a little red fire and some fancy elevator running. The young couple were reunited—and Tim was convinced once more that life was worth living.”

Summary from Reel Life · 24 January 1914

What the papers said

2 reviews

“This story lacks a punch, but it is pretty and well acted and has a pleasing character in the old elevator man who, after serving many years, knows something about the people he is taking up and down every day. He meddles to good advantage in an office love story. With a less trite ending, the offering would have been very likable indeed.”

The Moving Picture World · 7 February 1914

Read in full · 1 min

“This drama-comedy is novel only in the new locality of the play—namely, the scenes take place in the elevator. This is a new way of carrying interest, raising the suspense, and elevating a one-reel offering to a high plane of success. The plot itself is extremely simple and even outworn. But the fact that it is situated in the elevator and the man who has served many years makes kind of an elevating cupid in this play, lends it all the fresh color that is required to make it an interesting play. Mignon Anderson plays the part of the girl with ‘chicness.’ The elevator man is also ably played. The story is about the daily comings and goings of the elevator man’s office passengers and how he encourages the love match of a young couple, even going to the trouble of steering the girl in the right direction when she starts to go wrong.”

The New York Dramatic Mirror · 18 February 1914

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Cast and crew

Cast: Florence La Badie as Rose, a pretty young stenographer
: Harry Benham as Jack, the villain, in love with Rose
: Mignon Anderson as ?, see note
: Riley Chamberlin as Tim, the aged elevator man
: Sidney Bracy as Williams, the chief clerk
Writer: Lloyd F. Lonergan

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes: It could be that the reviewer for The New York Dramatic Mirror (see following review) mistook Mignon Anderson for Florence LaBadie; otherwise Miss Anderson’s name does not appear in cast listings, including the “official” listing in Reel Life, January 24, 1914.
Posters and media

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1914 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “The Elevator Man”. thanhouser.org/films/the-elevator-man/

Where a print is held

Held by: No print known