In an archive1911Thanhouser Company1,000 feetDrama

Vindicated

Name: Vindicated
Genre: Drama
Released: 1911-04-07

No copy you can watch online. A print survives in an archive but has not been digitised, so what follows is the record rather than the film.

The story

“A young man serves a term in the penitentiary, and on the day that he is set free feels bitter toward all mankind. In the warden’s office the convict meets an old minister and his daughter, who have called to pray with the prisoners, and is invited to join them. But he rudely refuses and rushes off. The convict finds it hard to secure work. One day he meets the girl and the minister. The girl wants her father to speak to the poor man. The girl drops her pocketbook, containing cash and her visiting cards, at the man’s feet, who picks up the purse and walks off with it. The man uses some of the money for food, then secures a job laboring in the streets. His first pay day is a red letter occasion for him, as he is then able to call on the girl, and return the purse with the contents intact. She, in gratitude, on learning that his education has been neglected, offers to aid him in his studies. And friendship ripens into love.

“The man works hard and is promoted. Then an unfriendly policeman comes along and again his past causes him to be thrown out into the world. Heartbroken, he calls to say good-bye. The girl agrees with him that it is better that he should seek fortune in another land, where his past will not rise to plague him. But she does not want him to go alone, for she loves a man whom she had tested when his fortunes were at the lowest ebb and found honest. Hand in hand, as man and wife, they leave the land of their birth, confident that they will be able to make their way in a country, where the story is not known. And they are thoroughly happy, being very much in love.”

Summary from The Moving Picture World · 8 April 1911

What the papers said

3 reviews · 1 advertisement

Read in full · 1 min

“In this Thanhouser film is told a story that for the most part is true to life. It concerns a convict, who, despite his efforts to lead a good life, is cast about simply because he was a former convict. He meets and falls in love with the minister’s daughter, to whom he proves conclusively that all his old ways had been given up. Later he is married to the girl. A scene, which has the subtitle of ‘Five Years Later,’ shows the happy home, over which the ex-convict reigns.”

The Billboard · 8 April 1911

“This film tells the story of a convict who proved his honesty very unexpectedly, concerning the circumstances, thereby won the love of a minister’s daughter. Because he was hounded by his past they are shown leaving for a country where he and his past are unknown. The story undoubtedly presents a certain face of misfortune very accurately and shows one way in which unfortunates may escape persecution.”

The Moving Picture World · 22 April 1911

More reviews

12 April 1911The New York Dramatic Mirror1 min

“Here is a story that points a moral and indicates that a bad reputation in one section of the country can be lost in another. On his being released from prison the man finds it hard to reinstate himself as an honest member of society. A minister’s daughter is affected by his condition, as she meets him in the street, and resolves to test his honesty. She drops her pocketbook, only to see him after a struggle enter a saloon with it. He then obtains a job with a gang of street laborers, and at the end of the first week returns the pocketbook to her with the amount made up, explaining that he was starving. She accepts his statement and undertakes his education, and in due time he is raised to the position of foreman. An officer then recognizes him, and he is discharged when his past life is learned. He goes to the girl and tells her that he must start anew in a land where he is unknown. It is evident that she goes with him, for the next scene five years later shows him at work on a farm, married, and with a child. This last scene, tacked on to make a pleasing ending, might have been avoided by some thread running through the story to be used in the scene before the last, where the story properly ends.”

1 March 1911The Moving Picture World1 min

“The story of an odd assertion of honesty—odd because totally unexpected, considering the time, the conditions, and the man. It is one of the better-class subjects that give genuine entertainment and still point a moral that is worth something. It helps you by adding tone to your place. It helps us by making you glad there are two Thanhousers every week.”

Scene by scene, with the intertitles2 min

In the opening scene, the jailkeeper opens the cell door and leads the convict to freedom.

HE MEETS THE MINISTER AND HIS DAUGHTER

The ex-convict, now in street clothes, is given a piece of currency, after which he is greeted by a minister, who attempts to introduce him to his daughter, who is standing nearby. The ex-convict turns away and leaves the room.

NO WORK FOR AN EX-CONVICT

He seeks work with a trolley car company, is rejected, and then goes to a freight warehouse, where the same thing happens. By now penniless, he is dejected.

“I FEAR THAT CRIMINAL IS BEYOND HELP”

The minister and his daughter see the ex-convict on a busy city street corner. Later, the minister’s daughter has an idea. She goes back to the commercial district to see if the ex-convict is still there.

TO TEST HIS HONESTY THE GIRL DROPS HER PURSE

The daughter sees the ex-convict, who is facing away from her, leaning on a mailbox. She approaches him unseen, drops her purse, and walks away. A few moments later he sees the purse and picks it up. He looks through it and finds the address of the owner, after which he crosses the street and goes into a building (probably a restaurant).

The scene changes to a group of laborers digging with shovels. The ex-convict gets a job with the crew.

HIS FIRST WEEK’S WAGES

At the end of the week, he receives his wages, from the paymaster who is passing out funds (while standing near a barrel emblazoned with the Thanhouser Company trademark). The money is put into the purse, which he has been carrying. Then the ex-convict takes out the note with the owner’s address and asks a fellow worker where the lady’s home can be found. The worker points out the direction.

“I’D BROUGHT IT BACK BEFORE, BUT I WAS STARVING”

The conscientious ex-convict enters into the parlor of the minister’s daughter and returns the purse. She shakes his hand, and as he turns to leave she gives him a book.

“I DON’T KNOW HOW TO READ, MISS”

She then beckons him to sit on the floor, which he does, and she reads to him from a book (not the same one she offered to him earlier).

PROMOTED TO THE POSITION OF FOREMAN

He is named foreman of the crew. He goes back to the minister’s daughter, who congratulates him on his good fortune.

RECOGNIZED AND DISCHARGED

A policeman passes the construction project and recognizes the ex-convict. He informs the company owner that his foreman was formerly a criminal, and in short order he is fired. He returns to his lodging room and packs his things.

“I MUST GO WHERE MY PAST IS UNKNOWN”

He goes to say goodbye to the minister and his daughter.

Q. David Bowers, from surviving print, Library of Congress, Balance of film missing.