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1914PrincessOne reelDrama

The Touch of a Little Hand

Also released as One Little Touch

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 pawnbroker’s one passion in life is the accumulation of money. His clerk, Harry, is in love with Ruth, a factory girl, and when she becomes injured in an accident, the doctor advises a very expensive operation immediately. Ruth’s widowed mother takes a necklace, which she has had for many years, to the pawnbroker’s shop, hoping thus to secure the money for the operation. But it is discovered that her husband, a worthless man, had long ago sold the real jewels and substituted paste stones in their place. Harry, in despair at the prospect of his sweetheart’s danger, makes the necessary loan upon the worthless security. When his employer discovers his act, the young clerk is arrested and imprisoned. His friends plead with the pawnbroker, but to no avail. At last, Ruth’s little sister wakens in the tight-fisted old man a sympathetic chord. He pardons his clerk and brings health and happiness to the girl whom Harry loves.”

Summary from Reel Life · 10 October 1914

What the papers said

2 reviews

“A conventional little story of a grasping pawnbroker, whose hard heart is softened by the ingenuous appeal of a dear little child. As a play, it is somewhat lacking in originality, but its weakness in this respect is amply compensated for by the very great skill and charm with which it is handled. That finished character actor, Riley Chamberlin, is …

Read in full · 1 min

“A conventional little story of a grasping pawnbroker, whose hard heart is softened by the ingenuous appeal of a dear little child. As a play, it is somewhat lacking in originality, but its weakness in this respect is amply compensated for by the very great skill and charm with which it is handled. That finished character actor, Riley Chamberlin, is particularly good as the hard old Jewish pawnbroker, and everyone else does well, including the pretty baby-heroine of the piece. It is frankly sentimental, but the sentiment is of an always popular nature.”

The Bioscope · 21 January 1915

“A story of simple elements in which Riley Chamberlin gives a good imitation of a pawnbroker. The little child appeals to him on behalf of the imprisoned clerk who accepted imitation jewels to help the family out. The photography is good and the release quite pleasing.”

The Moving Picture World · 31 October 1914

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Cast and crew

Director
Arthur Ellery
Cast
Boyd Marshall as Harry, the pawnbroker’s clerk
Eldean Steuart
James Dunne
Kenneth Clarendon
Mrs. Arthur Ellery as Ruth’s mother
Maurice Steuart as Hilda, Ruth’s little sister
Mayre Hall as Ruth, the pawnbroker’s sweetheart
Riley Chamberlin as pawnbroker

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

Watch instead

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1914 · Same leadThe Decoy
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1915 · Same directorMme. Blanche, Beauty Doctor
A frame from Shep’s Race with Death12:15
1914 · Same castShep’s Race with Death

More about this film

Bowers’ notes

Production of this film began on September 21, 1914 and continued for the next two weeks.

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 Touch of a Little Hand”. thanhouser.org/films/the-touch-of-a-little-hand/

Where a print is held

Held by
No print known