Lost1913Thanhouser CompanyOne reelDrama

The Girl Detective’s Ruse

Name: The Girl Detective’s Ruse
Genre: Drama
Released: 1913-04-29

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 term of a noted woman counterfeiter was drawing to an end when the chief of police of a large city received information that the criminal was to re-enter her old business. The woman was a famous engraver of spurious bank bills, and according to the word the police received, another gang had arranged for her to work with them. The chief, however, did not know the identity of these crooks, and deemed it inadvisable to shadow the woman when she left prison, believing that the criminals are bright enough to elude pursuers. He accordingly placed the matter in the hands of a girl detective, telling her that it was a chance for her to prove her ability. The detective was a former actress and skillful in the art of ‘making up.’ She saw the convict in prison and satisfied herself that she could pass as the other woman. The prisoner was detained in jail while the detective made up to resemble her, and left the penitentiary. Outside a young man in an auto was waiting. He beckoned to the detective and whisked her away. After many shifts to avoid possible pursuers, they arrived at a downtown tenement where the woman was introduced to the members of the gang as a famous engraver, none suspecting her identity. By a clever ruse, she was able to communicate with the chief, even permitting members of the gang to read and post her letter. She discovered the hiding place of the counterfeiter’s outfit and was just about to give the signal for the raid when exposure came.

The criminal’s husband, who was serving a long term, escaped from his cell and, learning where his supposed wife was hiding, went there. He denounced the detective as a spy, but she had time to send the signal for help, and by her quick wit delayed her own capture until assistance arrived. Aid came to her while on the roof of a tenement, surrounded by her foes. The counterfeiting outfit was seized and the band broken up, for all members of it were sent away for long terms.

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 25 January 1913

Another synopsis, from The Moving Picture World · 3 May 19131 min

A gang of counterfeiters made their headquarters in a large city and the police, despite many determined efforts, were unable to arrest them. One of the cleverest detectives in the city’s employ was the young girl who had won a name for courage. She learned that a certain woman counterfeiter, who had been sentenced to prison with her husband, was soon to be released, and a daring plan occurred to her. The convict resembled the detective in appearance, and the latter felt sure that, properly disguised, she would be taken for the other woman. Arrangements were accordingly made, the prisoner was detained in the penitentiary, while the detective, wearing the shapeless clothing given to discharged prisoners, slunk out of the prison yard. As she had anticipated she was met by men who warmly greeted her and escorted her to a waiting automobile. The woman counterfeiter had been noted as an engraver, and the detective’s ‘friends’ were none other than the gang of which the police were in search. At their headquarters the girl, firmly established in the gang’s confidence, learned all the information necessary and sent a cipher message to the chief of police, telling him to raid the place.

The convict’s husband escaped from prison on the day set for the raid. He made his way to the counterfeiter’s headquarters, and when presented to his ‘wife’ denounced her as an impostor and spy. The girl was in great peril, but her courage did not fail her. Seizing a chair, she smashed the lamp and the room was shrouded in darkness. While the angry men floundered around trying to find her, the detective fled to the roof of the building in an effort to elude her pursuers. She was overtaken and seized. Death was very near at hand when policemen poured in from the adjoining houses and the counterfeiters were made prisoners. The girl was complimented for her gallantry and promoted, and the woman whose place she had taken was helped to lead an honest life.

What the papers said

4 reviews · 1 advertisement

Read in full · 1 min

Unquestionably this is one of the best detective photo-plays reviewed in a long time. It has originality in plot, well sustained suspense in action, characters of interest and sufficient dramatic action to keep the spectator in wonderment as to the outcome. A woman counterfeiter is about to be released from prison, and as the police believe that she will return to her former vocation they decide on a clever means to round up the gang they expect her to join. So they secure a clever woman to help them, and this woman makes herself up to resemble the other, and when the time for the release of the prisoner occurs the detective leaves the jail and goes to an auto, to which she is beckoned by a young man. She is taken by a circuitous route to the den of the counterfeiters and there deceives the gang. She manages to communicate with the police, and everything goes along smoothly until the arrival of the husband of the real counterfeiter, who betrays the detective. But her quick wit saves her, and the story closes with the capture of the entire band. The play is splendidly acted and directed, is staged most creditably and is certain to prove wholly entertaining wherever shown.

Note: This film was reviewed twice in The Morning Telegraph. The reviewer must have seen a pre-release print in January, in advance of the originally expected January 21, 1913 release date. Later, when the release date was changed to April 29, 1913, the film was reviewed once again.

The Morning Telegraph · 26 January 1913

Read in full · 1 min

The plot of this is very cleverly worked out, full of consistent action. It holds the interest from first to last. The role of the ‘girl detective’ has been entrusted to Marguerite Snow, who has interpreted the part with a cunning and enthusiasm that adds considerably to the general color of the story. A clever young girl detective is placed by the city on the trail of a gang of counterfeiters. She learns that a woman connected with the gang, and who is now nearing the close of a term in prison, where she has been placed along with her husband, is about to be released. In order to gain access to the haunts of the counterfeiters the girl detective goes to the prison, has the convict brought to her, and taking special note of her appearance, proceeds to make up to look like her. She dresses in the prison garb, and as she leaves the prison gates she is accosted and warmly greeted by a man who, taking her for the prisoner, hurries her to an automobile and brings her to the den of the counterfeiters. The climax of the story arises when the husband of the woman, having escaped from prison, arrives on the scene and denounces the girl as a spy. In order to get the best of the situation she overturns a lamp. The darkened room quickly fills with smoke and the girl flees to the roof, closely followed by the men. Several policemen who are at hand ready to raid the house quickly enter and come to her rescue just in time to save her life.

The Morning Telegraph · 4 May 1913

More reviews2 · 10 May 1913 – 7 May 1913

10 May 1913The Moving Picture World1 min

The best detective story recently shown, with a girl in the leading part. The girl impersonates a woman counterfeiter, about to be released from prison. A member of the gang meets her with an automobile and she is taken to their apartments. All goes well until the woman’s husband escapes from prison and appears on the scene. The girl’s escape contains a genuine thrill. A good release.

7 May 1913The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

An admirably constructed melodrama, well done and with a real thrill. First we see a counterfeiter and his wife arrested. Five years later we see a girl detective given the task of watching the woman, Sue Haggerty, who is about to be released. The woman detective studies the woman in her cell and makes up to look like her. The prisoner, although her sentence is up, is detained while the disguised detective is met at the gate by the woman’s friends. She is received in the new counterfeiting den as a fellow criminal. At that moment the husband, who has escaped, appears. He reveals the woman as a spy. Here is a strong situation. The detective seizes a chair and smashes the one lamp. There is total darkness. We see the door flash open and the woman dart out. The door shuts and the darkness is again complete. The counterfeiters smash the door panels bit by bit, the only light coming through the shattered door. They finally force themselves out and pursue the woman to the roof. Just as they overtake and seize her the police arrive and arrest the gang.

Now there is one weakness in the construction. The escape of the husband doesn’t seem real. The way he exchanges clothing with a handy scarecrow is trite and hackneyed, but it leads up, as we have outlined, to a virile situation. The method in which the lamp is smashed—holding the screen in total darkness—carries the real element of suspense and of a thrill. The prison scenes are very well done. The resemblance of the detective in disguise to the woman prisoner is really excellent. There is nothing of the usual half-hearted attempts at disguise. The acting is uniformly satisfactory. The Girl Detective’s Ruse is, of course, just a melodrama, but it has a thrill.

3 May 1913The Moving Picture World1 min

The prize female counterfeiter has been liberated; she slunk out of the prison yard and into a waiting automobile that—as soon as the driver was certain none watched—whizzed her to the counterfeiter’s headquarters. But she wasn’t the counterfeiter; she was the detective and the close resemblance make-up was her ruse!

Note: An earlier advertisement for this film appeared in The Moving Picture World, January 18, 1913.

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Cast and crew

Cast: Marguerite Snow as the girl detective

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes: This film was scheduled to be released on January 21, 1913, but was postponed until April 29, 1913. Her Fireman, originally scheduled for January 24, 1913, was rescheduled to the January 21, 1913 position. This rescheduling took place around the time of the Thanhouser studio fire (January 13, 1913), and it may have been that production prints were lost in the conflagration. However, a reviewer for The Morning Telegraph was able to view an early copy, as noted below. 2. The title was given erroneously as The Girl Detective’s Rush in a note in 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 1913 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “The Girl Detective’s Ruse”. thanhouser.org/films/the-girl-detective-s-ruse/

Where a print is held

Held by: No print known