Volume II: Filmography

WITH THE MOUNTED POLICE

December 31, 1912 (Tuesday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: Mignon Anderson (the sweetheart), William Garwood (the daring young policeman who loved her)

ARTICLE, The Photoplay Magazine, May 1914. Commentary is by William Garwood:

"My most exciting experience was in With the Mounted Police, a story written around an aqueduct in New York. During the construction of same I was tied hand and foot with a sack over my head and supposed to float in the reservoir on the 10th of December, 1912, with a temperature at twenty-three degrees Fahrenheit - nine below the freezing point. The moment I struck the water I was unconscious. I was rescued by Mignon Anderson."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, December 28, 1912:

"The aqueduct police had many duties to perform, and continual vigilance was the price of order, owing to the fact that many dangerous aliens were in the territory they guarded. On one occasion the captain receives an anonymous warning that the men in a certain section of the works were planning violence because certain concessions they demanded had been refused. The captain called upon one of his brightest young men to find out if there was any truth to the statement. The patrolman disguised himself, secured work as a laborer and soon became on friendly and confidential terms with his associates. He learned that the warning was true, communicated with his captain by phone, and agreed to meet a party of police that night at a certain spot in the road and lead them to the conspirators. One of the criminals, however, was suspicious, and had secretly trailed the patrolman, learning that he was a spy. That evening a number of the men attacked the detective while he was walking along the road, overpowered, bound and gagged him, and then threw him into a newly completed reservoir which was empty. They then turned on the water, insuring a slow but certain death.

"Before the young man had started out on his detective work, he had taken his pet dog and consigned him to his sweetheart, a country girl who lived near the aqueduct. On the night he was overpowered, the dog ran away from his new mistress, being lonesome without his master. Along the rough roads and through the woods he traced his owner, finally locating him in the slowly filling aqueduct. The girl was in the cottage when the dog returned, and the animal's excitement led her to believe that something was wrong. She followed the dog, and he led her to the aqueduct where she arrived just in time to save the policeman's life. The bluecoat, though unstrung by his terrible experience, was in time to meet the detachment of his comrades, and guide them to where the conspirators were. The dangerous gang were placed behind the bars, and the girl whose bravery saved a life later became the bride of the policeman."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, January 15, 1913:

"We do not recall any previous motion pictures in which the now deservedly famous Aqueduct police have been presented to view. This story is exceedingly interesting because of the views of the mammoth water works being constructed in the Catskills to supply the metropolis of New York, and the tale is one of thrilling and well sustained action. The captain of a squad of the police learns that some of the laborers are planning some destructive act, and so he deputizes an officer to act as a spy on the gang. The officer does so with marked success, and telephones to his superior all he has learned, designating a place where he will meet the police and lead them to the lair of the gang. But he is trailed by the latter and is overpowered, bound and placed in a reservoir and water is turned on. His pet dog, which he had left in the care of his sweetheart, finds his master, runs to the girl and in dog fashion lets her know something is wrong. She follows the faithful fellow to his master, rescues him, and so he manages to effect the round-up of the plotters. As well acted as most Thanhouser productions and equally as well directed, there need be no further comment."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, January 11, 1913:

"The scenic features of this picture are very striking, though the plot seems not quite so strong. The young trooper is bound by anarchists and thrown into the bottom of the aqueduct. A flood is opened and he is in danger of drowning. His dog brings a girl to the scene and she rescues him. Later the anarchists are rounded up by the mounted police."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, January 1, 1913:

"Obviously the sole purpose of this film drama is to display the smartness of a dog, a task that has been admirably realized. As a legitimate drama the picture is somewhat weak, not alone through the faults of directing, but because of the improbability of the theme. The animal belongs to one of the members of the mounted police, and he is first introduced to us as the young man stops to greet his sweetheart on his way home. The home of the young man appears more like a barn than an abode of a human being. It is furnished with absolutely nothing but a rickety table and a chair; the walls are bare, with pieces of plaster off here and there. True, it is a minor detail to draw attention to, but such things detract from the artistic standard of a picture. The officer is sent on a hazardous mission to gain information respecting the plans of a gang of anarchists. He is discovered in the attempt, waylaid, and thrown into a river tied hand and foot. Here he flounders about until discovered by his faithful dog, who leads the girl to the rescue. We marvel that the man doesn't drown - but that would not be to the interest of the story. The dog appears indisputably bright and clever. The acting is acceptable."

MODERN SYNOPSIS

(from surviving print)

(Library of Congress)

On the surviving print, the film opens with a scene of a troop of about two dozen mounted policemen. The scene shifts to a policeman who, with his dog, visits his sweetheart on the front porch of her home. The two embrace, then the policeman and his dog go to his home.

THE TROOPER IS GIVEN A SECRET MISSION

The policeman goes to his commanding officer, who shows him a warning message:

"To Aqueduct Police

"A bunch of Anarchists in Gang Five plan trouble. Act quickly.

"A Friend."

The policeman accepts the assignment to investigate the matter, and leaves his buddies, who are reading newspapers and lolling around the mounted police headquarters - a large wooden frame house.

HE LEAVES HIS DOG IN HIS SWEETHEART'S CARE

He takes his dog to his sweetheart's home, kisses his sweetheart goodbye, and leaves the dog with her.

WITH THE AQUEDUCT WORKERS

A scene is shown of workers removing blasted rocks, as part of the aqueduct excavation process.

THE PLOTTERS MAP OUT THEIR WORK

A gang of seven anarchists plan their strategy.

THAT NIGHT

The gang meets. Shown is a wooden box with 12 dozen sticks of Dupont nitro dynamite. (The lettering on the Dupont shipping box is very crudely stenciled, not at all like the appearance of a real Dupont box.)

AT NOON THE FOLLOWING DAY

An anarchist follows the policeman-detective to the A.T. Harwood Lumber Company. From a nearby telephone the detective reports to his chief. Unknown to the detective, the anarchist listens through a nearby open window.

Later, the detective is attacked by the gang as he walks down a wooded path.

THE DOG FINDS HIS MASTER

The scene shifts to his sweetheart's cottage. His dog runs down the front steps.

In the meantime, the detective struggles with his attackers, who tie him up and throw him into a ditch or channel.

The dog runs toward the scene.

An anarchist turns a metal wheel on the sluice gate and lets water in to flood the channel. The bound detective struggles in the rising water as he nears drowning.

The dog appears on the scene, sees his master bobbing in the water, and runs back to his master's sweetheart. She returns with the dog to the scene, turns the wheel and cuts off the supply of water, and the water level recedes. She unties her lover, who is very soggy at this point and is near death.

A large troop of about two dozen mounted soldiers leaves headquarters and goes to the aqueduct site. There, the detective directs them to the anarchists.

TRAPPED

The mounted policemen arrest the anarchists. The detective returns to his sweetheart, and on the porch of her home they both caress his dog.

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