Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
a.k.a. A TELEPHONE TRAGEDY
June 29, 1915 (Tuesday)
Length: 2 reels
Character: Drama
Director: Frederick R. Sullivan
Scenario: Philip Lonergan
Cast: Inda Palmer (Mrs. Angell, an old woman), Morris Foster (Will Drake, her nephew), Florence LaBadie (Flo Drake, his sister), Boyd Marshall (Benton, a civil engineer), Ina Hammer (Susan Watson, the housekeeper), Morgan Jones, Ernest Warde
Notes: 1. The cast listings given above are per Thanhouser publicity. However, the film itself has a scene in which a will is shown, and the old woman's name is given not as Mrs. Angell but as Lydia Anne Gray. Her nephew's name is given as William Drake, as above, but her niece is named not Flo Drake but Mary Drake. 2. A print of this film in The National Film Archive (London) is titled A Telephone Tragedy. Apparently the film was publicized as Crossed Wires but the release prints were titled A Telephone Tragedy.
ADVERTISEMENT (signed by Edwin Thanhouser), The Moving Picture World, July 3, 1915:
"I engaged Miss Ina Hammer especially to interpret a vulturish, rapacious role, because I wanted to get a terrific effect. Florence LaBadie plays the opposite part in her usual sympathetic style, and - well, I tell you, the contrast in types is overwhelming! The story is a whiplash of situations, and it's all done in surpassing Thanhouser style. You will dream about it long after you've seen it!"
ARTICLE, The New Rochelle Pioneer, June 5, 1915:
"Ina Hammer, star of the Westchester Theatre Stock Company, Mount Vernon, made her debut in pictures at Thanhouser this week, in a two-reel feature, Crossed Wires, by Philip Lonergan, and directed by Frederick Richard Sullivan. At the completion of this picture director Sullivan will start another, a naval production, the battleship scenes for which were taken during the last review."
SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, June 26, 1915:
"Will Drake warns his rich old aunt against her crafty housekeeper, Susan. As the woman has been in her service for many years and she had always trusted her, Drake's aunt, Mrs. Angell, is made very angry by her nephew's insinuations. They quarrel. Susan overhears them, and after the young man is gone, she tries to persuade Mrs. Angell to change her will and disinherit her nephew, whom she has named her chief heir [Ed. note: the will itself, as shown in the film, gives her nephew and niece equal amounts; $50,000 each]. In the evening, the nephew comes back, apologizes to his aunt, and is readily forgiven. Scarcely has he left the house, however, than the old lady is taken violently ill. She summons Susan. Then she discovers that the servant she has trusted is really responsible for her illness and eager to get her out of the way. Dragging herself to the telephone, she calls up the police. She starts to tell the officers that her nephew had warned her against the housekeeper. 'Central' accidentally disconnects the two lines and switches the call onto the wire of Benton, a young civil engineer. The police hear: 'I am dying - poisoned - Will Drake,' and Benton hears: 'Will Drake warned me. Susan is guilty.' Some weeks later, Drake is brought to trial for the murder of his aunt. Meanwhile his sister, Flo, happens to have met Benton. At the last moment, Drake is saved from the death sentence by the corroborating testimony of the young engineer. Flo, overcome with gratitude to Benton, and also deeply in love with him, readily consents to reward him with herself."
REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, July 10, 1915:
"A two-reel number, featuring Flo LaBadie, Morris Foster and Boyd Marshall. The maid poisons the elderly lady employing her in order to gain an inheritance, throwing the guilt on the nephew. The crime and subsequent happenings are pictured in a most graphic way, the plot being much better than the average offering of the kind. The telephone feature was handled in good style. A crime story with many dramatic moments."
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.