Volume II: Filmography

THE BABY BENEFACTOR

June 1, 1915 (Tuesday)

Length: 630 feet this section; split at the end of the second reel of The Girl of the Sea

Character: Comedy (per Thanhouser); drama or "heart interest tale" (per review)

Cast: Sidney Bracy (the grandfather), Madeline or Marion Fairbanks (Dorothy), Helen Badgley (the baby)

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, May 29, 1915:

"The rich old man was very fond of his little granddaughter. But when it came to feeling sympathy for poor children in the neighborhood, he was not to be moved. The pastor of his church sent him a letter urging him to help tide over a family of two with the necessities of life, until the struggling young woman could get on her feet and find a way to support herself and her young brother. The appeal lay neglected on the rich old man's desk where little Dorothy found it and signed it on her own responsibility. Then she started out on her errand of mercy, raiding the pantry and carrying away the good things in a taxicab. The grandfather chanced to see her disappearing into the cab. Thinking that Dorothy was being kidnapped, he traced the driver and had him arrested. The man offered to guide the frantic grandfather to the house to which he had taken Dorothy. There the rich old man found the child ministering to the wants of those to whose sufferings he had been wholly indifferent. After that, Dorothy and her grandfather made their philanthropic visits together."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, June 2, 1915:

"The Baby Benefactor includes one of the twins and the Kidlet and some more children. It is a child heart interest tale in which the Kidlet takes matters into her own hands when her grand-daddy, a sour old man, will not help a poor starving family of two. The child goes in taxicab style and delivers a basket full of groceries, and when her grand-daddy finds her his joy at the recovery inclines him to help the needy ones. It is staged in the usual clear and commendable manner."

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