Volume II: Filmography

THE REVENGE OF THE STEEPLE-JACK

August 8, 1915 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel (1,000 feet)

Character: Drama

Cast: Harris Gordon (Joel Frazer), John Lehnberg (Ben, the steeplejack), Mignon Anderson (Marguerite Frost), Carey L. Hastings (her Aunt Mary)

Note: "Steeple-jack" in the title appeared unhyphenated, as "steeplejack," in some notices.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, August 7, 1915:

"Prepare to lose your breath when you see this one. The big punch is the battle 200 feet in the air by two men who love the same girl. No counterfeit thrill effects! You won't need to ask a question after you see the hair-raising work in this film. Mignon Anderson, Harris Gordon and John Lehnberg worked with all their might - and they know how!"

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, August 21, 1915:

"One of the most thrilling stunts ever enacted before a motion picture camera occurred on the slender scaffolding atop a 200 foot chimney of the Standard Oil station immediately in the rear of the Thanhouser studios in New Rochelle, during the filming of one of the scenes for The Steeple-Jack's Revenge [sic], a single reel drama for release on August 8. And it was by the narrowest fraction of an inch that one and possibly the two actors participating in the scene were not killed or seriously injured. John Lehnberg lost his balance, but was saved from death by Harris Gordon in the exercise of his own great strength."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, August 14, 1915:

"Joel Frazer, a civil engineer, and Ben, a steeplejack, who always had been friends, fall in love with Marguerite Frost. Ben's jealousy makes of him an insane man. He purposely directs Marguerite into the sinking sands, and then, from the top of the tower, whither comes Frazer to inspect Ben's job, the steeple-jack compels the engineer to look abroad and see his fiancée going to her death. Ben pulls a revolver, and there is a scuffle far above the ground. The steeple-jack loses his footing and falls to his doom. Frazer, galloping to Marguerite's rescue, is barely in time to save her."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, August 21, 1915:

"A one-reel number featuring Mignon Anderson, Harris Gordon and John Lehnberg. This has a real thrill in it and arouses the observer's interest greatly. The struggle on top of the chimney and the fall of the villain are well pictured. A good number of the kind."

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