Volume II: Filmography

THE FILM FAVORITE'S FINISH

(Falstaff)

November 11, 1915 (Thursday)

Length: 1 reel (1,030 feet)

Character: Comedy

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Cast: Louise Emerald Bates (leading woman), Frank Goldsmith (favorite), Frances Keyes (character woman), Riley Chamberlin (character man), Lindsay Morison (stage director)

Note: The title was given erroneously as Film Favorites' Finish in Reel Life, November 13, 1915.

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, November 13, 1915:

"The players of the Climax Film Company were known as 'The Happy Family.' They all 'boosted' one another, there was no professional jealousy, and they got along in the friendliest fashion imaginable. Of course this could not last forever. One day the serpent crept into their Eden. The serpent's name was T. Dorincourt Withers, and he was a 'motion picture idol.' From the very start the new star man was unpopular. He refused to talk to anybody except 'the leads,' he snubbed the men and patronized the women, and took interest only in those parts of the pictures in which he appeared alone in 'close-ups.' So 'The Happy Family' held an indignation meeting, and decided that some action must be taken. It was the character man who rose to the emergency. On a day off he happened to pass a beautiful country estate just in time to see its owner, a wealthy society leader, depart, leaving the house unguarded. As she stepped into her auto, she dropped her keys. As he picked them up, the character man murmured aloud, 'What a dandy way to bring woe to Withers.'

"The enthusiastic support of the company was engaged. An auto drove up to the studio, and the card of Mrs. Van der Gordon, New York and Newport, was brought to the star, who did not recognize in the 'footman' one of the members of the company. The star hastened to the auto and gladly accepted the gracious invitation of Mrs. Van der Gordon to take a ride. He did not recognize in 'Mrs. Van' the character woman made up. She took him to her home, mentioned that she was going away for a long trip and urged him to take possession of the place. The star moved in on the spot. A little later the police called, having been notified that burglars were in the house, and they laughed at the explanations of the unhappy star. The real Mrs. Van der Gordon came back and wrathfully repudiated him, after which he was led off, ignominiously, to jail. He did not remain there long. The authorities let him out, believing that he was simple-minded, a plea which the members of 'The Happy Family' most enthusiastically endorsed. But his brief incarceration had a sad effect upon the star's nerves, and he went to his father's farm in Kansas to recuperate - indefinitely."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, November 13, 1915:

"This is rather an amusing comedy in which an overbearing actor and leading man of a moving picture company is gotten rid of by a very clever ruse. The character man of the company accidentally picks up some keys that he has seen dropped on the street by a rich woman. He takes advantage of the opportunity to impersonate her, and invites the actor to spend some time in the villa as his guest. The police are then notified that a burglar is in the house, and the rest is easily imagined."

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