1915FalstaffOne reelComedy

The Handicap of Beauty

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

“Mary Rush, a stenographer, is so pretty that she is obliged constantly to change her position because all her employers fall in love with her. Going to apply at the office of a young lawyer, she determines to disguise herself. She combs her hair straight back, puts on spectacles and a severely plain dress—and gets the job. One evening, after the lawyer has left, Mary, who has brought a suitcase to the office, changes her old maid make-up for her prettiest clothes, as she has planned to take dinner with Frances, her younger sister, at a restaurant. Her employer unexpectedly returns and is badly smitten with the attractive girl, whom he takes to be his stenographer’s sister. Next day he begs permission to call. He finds Mary at home in her soberest rags. ‘Little Sister’ is out. Then the phone rings and they learn that Frances is about to marry the man of her choice at the office of the justice of the peace. Determined to stop the ceremony at any cost, Mary hurries into a very becoming hat and coat, and her employer calls a taxi. When she takes off her spectacles he recognizes the girl who has fascinated him the evening before. In the taxi the lawyer loses no time in getting to the point. Arrived at the city hall, they find ‘Little Sister’ already married to a young man by no means so bad as Mary’s horrified fancy had painted him. And the justice is persuaded to perform the service all over again for the newcomers.”

Summary from Reel Life · 10 April 1915

What the papers said

1 review · 1 advertisement

“The story of a pretty girl stenographer who flees from one employer to another because they annoy her. She at last dresses very plainly and wins the love of a good man. This makes quite a pleasing little story.”

The Moving Picture World · 1 May 1915

Advertisement

24 April 1915The Moving Picture World1 min

“Now, you who NEED COMEDY! You who complain of comedy that is vulgar—or comedy that hits the mark only once in a while. Here’s the second release of the new Friday comedy brand, FALSTAFF for Friday, April 23rd—The Handicap of Beauty—one reel of refined genuine comedy that IS comedy!”

Have you seen this film, or a print of it?

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.

Tell us about a print

Cast and crew

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

Watch instead

Films you can watch from the same company

Matched by cast, director and kind

More about this film

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 Handicap of Beauty”. thanhouser.org/films/the-handicap-of-beauty/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known