Volume II: Filmography

WHEN A COUNT COUNTED

August 25, 1912 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Drama

Cast: Mignon Anderson (the stenographer on vacation), Harry Benham

Note: The title was given as When a Man Counted in a review in The Morning Telegraph, September 1, 1912.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, August 24, 1912:

"A young law clerk is peeved at the women at a fashionable seaside resort because they have snubbed his sweetheart, who is really a stenographer in the same law office. He makes up his account, wins the love of all the vain ladies of the resort, and then publicly bestows his own love on the snubbed stenographer - to the anguish of all the assembled resorters."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, August 24, 1912:

"A pretty young stenographer in a New York lawyer's office had two weeks vacation coming to her, and decided for once in her life that she would cut a dash in society. She expended what for her was an enormous amount of money on clothes, and went to a fashionable seashore resort. At first she was quite a success, but trouble came with the arrival of the one of the women clients of her employer. This woman, who was naturally disagreeable, took great pleasure in telling everyone the newcomer was 'just a working girl,' and she wondered at her impudence in coming there. Naturally this spoiled the girl's vacation. One of the young men clerks in her office had told her he was coming down to spend the weekend at her hotel, but she wrote him that she was going to leave, as everybody was so mean to her. The young man, being a budding lawyer, settled to his own satisfaction the nature of the trouble. He loved the girl, and determined that while she had been snubbed, those to blame should be compelled to bitterly rue their conduct.

"To carry out his plans he went to the seashore disguised as a French nobleman. Accompanying him were his 'valet and secretary,' two of his pals, who were willing to help the joke along. At the seashore hotel, where men were the premium, the Count was a star of the first magnitude. He greatly shocked society, however, by devoting himself exclusively to the girl the others shunned, and when they both disappeared and the announcement was made that they had been secretly married, the grief of the narrow-minded woman was great. The stenographer and the clerk returned to the city, happy in each other's love, and although the girl was a good American, she admitted that there was one occasion when a count counted."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, September 1, 1912:

"A girl stenographer goes to the country for her vacation, and because of her clothes is thought to be a society debutante. But a client of her employer recognizes her and informs everybody who she is. Immediately she is snubbed by the guests of the hotel. She writes her lover, a clerk in the office, and he sends her word to stay where she is and wait developments. He dresses up as a French count and visits the resort. Everybody wants to meet the new titled guest. He is a hit, and then he meets his sweetheart, and they run off and are married. A clever touch is given at the finish, when they enjoy their wedding breakfast at a lunch wagon instead of at a swagger hotel where they would have liked to have eaten. The comedy has all of the touches of a well directed play and is ably acted throughout."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture News, August 31, 1912:

"A breezy, pretty and well-acted bit. Mignon Anderson certainly makes a hit as the little stenographer off for her vacation at the fashionable summer resort. The story is original and it has character."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, September 7, 1912:

"A picture whose first quality is its prettiness. It is full of lovely scenes and it is also an amusing comedy with a situation that enlists our sympathy. Miss Anderson plays the lead very charmingly. The climax takes place at a fashionable summer hotel where the 'exclusive younger set' has taken up the stenographer who is on a well-earned vacation. The presentation of this 'exclusive set' is somewhat in caricature; but that slight fault does not diminish the picture's effect, for there is much to the situation that convinces."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, September 4, 1912:

"There is a pleasing little idea in this comedy, and idea that has been well interpreted by those in the cast and produced with much attention to detail. One does not need to use a Cook's guide in following out this story, and while not uproariously funny, it still has its clean spirit of comedy running through a well-knit whole. The lawyer's stenographer, granted a vacation, buys pretty gowns, and goes to a fashionable hotel, where she becomes a member of the exclusive younger set. When the rich Mrs. Van Dyke, however, arrives at the same hotel, and informs the boarders that the girl works for her lawyer, they suddenly become cold. She writes to her friend, Jack, a clerk in the office, about her troubles, and he wires her to stay and watch developments. Jack, in the guise of a count, registers at the hotel, and immediately passes by the rich girl, preferring May. And, to cap it all, they get married, and give the local reporter a fake story with many romantic touches. The settings for the film are more than ordinarily pleasing, and the actors have evidently worked conscientiously to get the most out of each situation."

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