Volume II: Filmography

CONSCIENCE

August 25, 1914 (Tuesday)

Length: 2 reels (2,001 feet)

Character: Drama

Scenario: Irving Cummings and Lloyd F. Lonergan

Cast: Irving Cummings (Jack Gleason, bank teller), Mignon Anderson (Nell, his wife), Mrs. Frank Farrington (Meg, her old servant), Edward N. Hoyt (Dr. Wray), Eugene Moore (Billy), Ernest C. Warde (Blind Baggage Jake, an aged tramp), N.S. Woods

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, August 15, 1914:

"Jack Gleason is at his wit's end because the doctor has given his consumptive wife just one more chance, provided she can go to Arizona - and he has no money for the trip. In a reckless moment he stakes his life's savings on the gaming table - and loses every cent. Going home, the most despondent man in the world, he comes upon a sleeping beggar into whose hat some benevolent soul has dropped a ten dollar gold piece. Remembering that ten is his lucky number, the young man steals the coin and rushes back to the gambling parlor. Sure enough, his luck turns. He wins a suitcase full of money. But the weary face of the old beggar haunts him. At last he goes in search of him, brings him home with him, tells him the whole story, and thrusting upon him the suitcase of bills sends the dazed old man away. But the tramp has recognized in Gleason's wife one who has given him food when everybody else had turned him from the door. A few days later all but $20 of the money comes back, with a note, reading: 'Please take the rest to cure the lady, who had pity on an old hobo.'"

REVIEW, The Bioscope, December 24, 1914:

"A somewhat novel story which, although it is not altogether convincing, is certainly interesting and, for the most part, effective. The plot deals with the moral qualms of a gambler who, with a small sum which he has stolen from a sleeping beggar, wins enough money to save the life of his consumptive wife, and then hesitates to do so because of the moral wrong involved. These conscience scenes, in which the beggar constantly appears to the gambler, by means of double photography, are artificial. It does not seem probable that the latter, once having descended to petty theft, would think of sacrificing his wife for the sake of a moral quibble. It seems still more unbelievable that the beggar, his original coin having been restored to him, together with the money it has won, would voluntarily relinquish so pleasant a windfall. However, although the sentiments of the story ring rather false, the latter makes quite a good entertainment. The acting is exceedingly capable, Miss Mignon Anderson and Mr. Irving Cummings giving particularly fine performances."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, August 23, 1914:

"Gleason is at his wit's end to know how to secure the money necessary to send his sick wife to Arizona. At last he stakes his all on the gambling table and loses. On his way home he inspects an old tramp sleeping by the roadside. Some one has dropped a ten dollar bill [sic; synopsis and other reviews say $10 gold coin] into his hat. He remembered that ten is his lucky number Gleason takes it and, returning to the gaming room, wins a suitcase full of money. His conscience troubles him, however. He finds the old tramp, tells him the story and, thrusting the suitcase in his hand, sends him away. The tramp recognizes his wife as the only woman he had given him anything to eat. A few days later he returns all but $20 of the money and leaves a note for Gleason, which advises him to 'take the rest to cure the lady who had pity on a poor hobo.'"

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, September 4, 1914:

"A two-reel number with Mignon Anderson and Irving Cummings in the leads. This tells a highly improbable story, but it has a pretty sentiment behind it and works up to a pleasing climax. The young bank teller, needing money to send his wife to Arizona, takes a $10 gold piece from a beggar's hat, plays it on the lucky 10 at roulette and wipes up a fortune. This he feels compelled to turn over to the beggar, after confessing to his wife, but Blind Baggage Jake takes only a limited amount of the money and leaves the rest. The plot is almost fantastic, but the result is a cheerful yarn which leaves a pleasant feeling with the observer."

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