Volume II: Filmography

THE RUNAWAY

June 6, 1913 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: Marie Eline (the boy who saves the younger boy from drowning), Helen Badgley (the younger boy)

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, June 7, 1913:

The average youngster, who lives in a comfortable home with a father and mother ready to gratify every wish, is far differently situated from little boys whose home is an orphan asylum, where they are cared for with scores of others, and are promptly disciplined for any infraction of the rules. The authorities of some institutions are very kind to their young charges, but the superintendent of a certain little country orphanage was a very penurious man, the children confided to his care were badly cared for and frequently punished when they did not deserve it. One of the children, a manly little boy, resented the harsh treatment he received and escaped from the asylum. A traveling peddler took a liking to the child, and the boy became his companion on his wanderings. The boy was a grandson of a wealthy farmer, his mother having made an unfortunate marriage and left her parents' roof many years before. Soon after the child disappeared from the asylum, the grandparents received word that their daughter, from whom they had never heard, had died and that her little son was in the country asylum. The grandparents hastened to the asylum, warmly thanked the superintendent for his care of the child, and told them that they intended to reward him handsomely for the care of their grandson. The superintendent was avaricious. He knew that the young couple had never seen the boy, so he brought another of his little charges to them and persuaded the grandparents that he was their daughter's son. The rejoicing couple took the boy to their home.

One day the little 'grandson' strayed away from the farmhouse and started to investigate the well. He leaned over too far and fell in. The child undoubtedly would have been drowned if a boy who was driving by in a peddler's wagon had not come to the rescue. He dropped down the well, lifted the dripping little boy from the water, and the farmer, who had arrived on the scene, turned the windlass until both children were drawn up to safety. The amazement and joy of the grandparents were great when they found that the manly little stranger was their own grandchild. As for the other little fellow, they had learned to care for him so much that he became the other boy's little brother. Both boys lived happily on the farm and soon forgot that they had ever been inmates of an asylum.

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, June 8, 1913:

The Thanhouser kids figure to advantage in this picture, which is a delightful child drama. The story opens in an orphan asylum. A little boy of 8 or 10 runs away, while his tiny brother, whose bed was next to his in the dormitory, is claimed by his grandparents. One day when the runaway, who has been picked up by a tin peddler, is passing the house where his grandmother lives he sees the youngster fall in the well, and, arousing the grandparents to the dangerous situation of the child, he climbs down the well and rescues him. A recognition follows and the two children are happy.

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, June 14, 1913:

A very successful offering indeed is this story of two children from the orphan asylum. It is full of clever and amusing effects, and the Thanhouser children score another success. The struggle in the well was exceedingly well done, considering the age of the participants. A good number.

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, June 4, 1913:

An appealing little drama which will win the sympathies of any audience. The little boy runs away from an orphan asylum and falls in with a kindly old tinware peddler. Meanwhile the child's grandparents call the asylum to take back the little boy. The institution authorities substitute another child. Later the baby falls into a well, and the peddler's adopted boy rescues him. The other boy recognizes a picture of his mother, and so the old folks adopt both the children. The scene in the well is excellently done, and creates strong dramatic suspense. There are appealing scenes, too, when the baby plays with a tiny pig and a shepherd dog. The Runaway is a very commendable screen drama of simple and direct appeal.

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