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1914Thanhouser CompanyThree reelsDrama

The Runaway Princess

Also released as From Barmaid to Duchess

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 king of a certain small kingdom in Europe orders his niece, the fair Princess Priscilla of Rurilia, to marry Prince Wilhelm of Ogram, a man of evil reputation, whose personal habits are utterly revolting to the princess. She refuses—and he has her locked a prisoner in her apartments, until she shall consent to obey. Her nurse helps her outwit the king and escape—and together, they make their way to America. For a time, they live very comfortably on the money and jewels which they take with them—then their funds get low, and the old nurse falls ill, and has to be taken to the hospital. The physician who attends the nurse finds the princess a position—little dreaming that she is of royal blood—as maid to a wealthy woman in New York. The wealthy brother of the princess’s mistress falls violently in love with the supposed ladies’ maid—and asks her to marry him. But she wishes to surprise him. The appearance of the minister from Rurilia at the house gives her her opportunity. He is prevailed upon to keep her secret until he can arrange to present her, as the princess, at a ball which her mistress is soon to give. On this occasion, she appears in all her royal splendor, and before all the guests, accepts the hand of the American—declaring that she prefers the love of an honest man to a throne.”

Summary from Reel Life · 3 January 1914

What the papers said

3 reviews

“Maude Fealy puts quite a regal bearing into her role as Princess Priscilla. Harry Benham appears as her American lover and Lila Hayward Chester as the woman who for a time is employed as her maid. The story is very interesting and of an unusual sort. When the king ordered Princess Priscilla to marry a vicious prince she declined, escaped …

Read in full · 1 min

“Maude Fealy puts quite a regal bearing into her role as Princess Priscilla. Harry Benham appears as her American lover and Lila Hayward Chester as the woman who for a time is employed as her maid. The story is very interesting and of an unusual sort. When the king ordered Princess Priscilla to marry a vicious prince she declined, escaped from the imprisonment which followed, and went to America. There she was forced to obtain work as a lady’s maid while her own faithful servitor was in a hospital. Her employer’s wealthy and manly brother fell in love with her and proposed. She postponed the answer until a dinner at which the minister from Rurilia was to be present. She had him introduce her as the Princess Priscilla, and appeared in her royal robes. Then in the presence of all the guests she announced her acceptance of the American.”

The Morning Telegraph · 11 January 1914

“A three-reel offering featuring Maude Fealy as the princess who runs away and comes to America, where she works as a maid. The opening part of the story is simply a variation of Channing Pollock’s play, Such a Little Queen, which has been worked over before in pictures quite frequently. The latter scenes possess the most originality. The acting of …

Read in full · 1 min

“A three-reel offering featuring Maude Fealy as the princess who runs away and comes to America, where she works as a maid. The opening part of the story is simply a variation of Channing Pollock’s play, Such a Little Queen, which has been worked over before in pictures quite frequently. The latter scenes possess the most originality. The acting of Miss Fealy and Harry Benham was pleasing, but the settings were rather scanty and did not seem to carry the atmosphere of the continent in the opening scenes.”

The Moving Picture World · 17 January 1914

More reviews

14 January 1914The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

“A three-reel drama that takes us from a small principality in Europe to the democracy of America, again to the so-called aristocracy of the rich families in this country, with a complete change of atmosphere each time. There is such a divergence of characters, such complete change from one life to another, and there is such bad use made of spacing in the film to give each event its proportionate value that the picture cannot be called a success. After showing the palace of the king, which lacked a royal air but was satisfactory by reason of the stately portrayal of the cast, who are taken along the road with the royal refugees, and an undo amount of space is used to show the troubles of the maid of the princess with the royal impedimenta. Evidently the director cannot consider the maid an important character, for later on he drops her entirely out of the play. In a few hurried scenes we are shown the departure, arrival and reduction in circumstances in America, and then when the princess takes the position as maid and the offering again comes to life and holds the interest. It is a love story that develops between the princess and a rich American; they marry in the end. But all of this change from palace to garret and back destroys the continuity of the play. The acting of Maude Fealy is the best on the film. Her portrayal of the winsome and self-willed princess holds the attention well when all other means fail.”

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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
W. Eugene Moore, Jr.
Cast
Arthur Bauer as the king
David H. Thompson as Prince Wilhelm of Ogram
Harry Benham as the American millionaire
Lila Chester
Lila H. Chester as the millionaire’s sister
Maude Fealy as Princess Priscilla
Writer
Maude Fealy

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes
  1. Thanhouser first announced that this film would be released on January 6th, then changed the release date to the 9th. Various trade publications printed (and did not correct later) the January 6th date. For example, The Moving Picture World, January 10, 1914, stated that this film was released on the 6th and that there was no Thanhouser release on the 9th. 2. A review in the New York Morning Telegram identified Lila H. Chester’s role as the maid to the princess. 3. Thanhouser designated this film as three reels, although it was only 2,204 feet in length.

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 Runaway Princess”. thanhouser.org/films/the-runaway-princess/

Where a print is held

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