Lost1911Violet Gray1,000 feetDrama

The Vote that Counted

Name: The Vote that Counted
Genre: Drama
Released: 1911-01-13

Also released as The Deciding Vote, The Vote that Counts

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

“State Senator Jack Dare, one of the reform members of the legislature, starts to the state capitol to attend an important session of that body. That he took the midnight train from his home city is clearly proven, for his aged mother was a passenger on it, and besides the conductor and porter are certain that he retired for the night Lower 9. In the morning, however, his berth is empty, although some of his garments are found there. The case puzzles the railroad officials and the police, and Violet Gray is given a chance to distinguish herself. She learns from the conductor and porter, who had happened to spend the night awake at opposite ends of the car, that the senator did not go by them. Consequently this leaves only the window as his means of egress, and she knows that he must have gone that way.

“Violet discovers that Dare is a hearty supporter of a bill that a powerful lobby is trying to defeat. The fight is so close that his is the deciding vote. Dare cannot be bribed, so his opponents spirited him away in a novel fashion. But the girl finds where he is hidden and brings him back, although he is much injured. He reaches his seat in time to cast the needed vote, and to astound and defeat the lobby.”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 14 January 1911

What the papers said

2 reviews · 1 advertisement

Read in full · 1 min

“A state senator is on his way to a meeting of the state legislature. He is waylaid by the agents of some lobbyists, who desire the passage of a certain bill which is favorable to their interests, and to which the senator is very much opposed. His vote is the deciding one, hence the strenuous efforts of the lobbyists to cause this absence. The senator’s mysterious disappearance is discovered, and a girl detective is put on the case. Her clues lead to the solution of the problem, and the senator is liberated and arrives in time to cast the vote to defeat the bill. The situations, though rather melodramatic, are interesting and round out a good picture. The acting and photography may be classed as good.”

The Billboard · 21 January 1911

Read in full · 1 min

“This is a good melodrama that shows rough, but novel, conception, and some fine effects, but somehow when it turned detective, and Violet Gray appeared, it seemed to lack dignity. One felt the need of a man’s strength to solve the problem, and although Violet did it very acceptably, it appeared the while she did it because it was a story. Boss Casey informed the senator that if he did not vote for the gambling bill his career was ended. He refused a bribe, so crooked work was resorted to. The number of the senator’s berth on the train was ascertained. An accomplice took the upper one, drugged the senator, and another crook let down a rope in front of the window. The accomplice put the senator out of the window, tied him to the rope, and at the next watering station the crook let him down and took him to a shanty. In the morning Violet Gray, detective, traced him thither, and by using a hand car he reached the Senate in time to cast the vote that counted.”

The New York Dramatic Mirror · 18 January 1911

7 January 1911The Moving Picture World1 min

“The Second Adventure of Violet Gray, Detective, The Vote that Counted will decide your vote and voice for all the ‘Violet Gray’ reels your exchange man receives. Insist on getting the Detective Gray stories—every one in the series—starting with Love and Law, released Tuesday, December 13th. The present adventure deals with an empty berth in a railroad coach. A prominent member of the legislature SHOULD have been in it. He had been seen to enter it. But he never came out; or at least he was never seen to come out. Still, his berth was found empty, and the mystery of his disappearance would never have been solved if Violet Gray hadn’t been called into the case.”

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Cast and crew

Cast: Julia M. Taylor as Violet Gray

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More about this film

Bowers’ notes: This film was the second in the “Violet Gray, Detective” series, which consisted of the following: Love and Law (December 13, 1910), The Vote That Counted (January 13, 1911), The Norwood Necklace (February 10, 1911), and The Court’s Decree (July 7, 1911).

From Volume II: Filmography of Q. David Bowers’ Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, reproduced with permission and unchanged. Read the history of 1911 →

Cite as: Bowers, Q. David. Thanhouser Films: An Encyclopedia and History, “The Vote that Counted”. thanhouser.org/films/the-vote-that-counted/

Where a print is held

Held by: No print known