Volume II: Filmography

THE LITTLE CAPTAIN OF THE SCOUTS

November 9, 1915 (Tuesday)

Length: 2 reels

Character: Drama

Cast: Grace DeCarlton (girl), Charles Compton (West Point cadet), Ethel Jewett (girl's friend), Leland Benham (girl's brother), Tula Belle; advertised as featuring "Grace DeCarlton and a cast of 11 kiddies"

ARTICLE, Reel Life, November 6, 1915:

"The Little Captain of the Scouts...was written especially for the talented boy actor, Leland Benham, best known as little Helen Badgley's 'leading man.' Leland is on his mettle in this delightful drama, in which he stars as the leader of a manly band of Boy Scouts, and the devoted comrade of Big Sister. There is a 'real soldier' chap in the story, played by Charles Compton, and his romance with the boy's sister is humorously interwoven with the escapades of the small 'Captain.' A lover's quarrel brings sorrow to all 'the fellows,' for the young West Point graduate, who has organized the little chaps, abruptly leaves town. But Leland, by a happy accident, reunites Big Sister and the 'real soldier' - who join their fortunes for life."

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, November 6, 1915:

"There could be nothing in the world finer than being a soldier, thought the small boy. But 'way off there in Rosedale where no one ever heard of wars scarcely, what was a fellow to do? Anyway, he could play with his toy soldiers, and wear a soldier cap, and try every day of his life to be just as much as possible like a soldier. Big Sister told him, too, that fighting wasn't everything. A soldier should be polite and kind and always a gentleman. Then there came to the town a big chap who had graduated from West Point. He was on what he called a 'furlough.' He organized the Boy Scouts in Rosedale, and what fun it was. Some of the people said that the soldier did this because he was in love with the boy's Big Sister and wanted to please her! Oh, well, he pleased all the fellows, too. But just as things were going along the best, he got up and went away suddenly. The boy's Big Sister cried, and they all said there'd been a quarrel. The day after that, the boy decided he was big enough to go to war. He went hiking out after that real soldier, and there's no telling what might have happened to him if the Boy Scouts hadn't gone hunting him. But it was a lady in an automobile with her own two little boys who found the Soldier Boy asleep by the road. And just then along came the real soldier and saw them. He knew the lady, and wasn't he glad to see the Soldier Boy.

"All this time the fellows were looking for the Soldier Boy and so was his Big Sister. She happened to come along just as the real soldier was taking the Soldier Boy away from the lady. And the Boy Scout fellows saw them all and came running up. They got there just in time to hear the soldier introducing the lady to Big Sister. He said: 'This is the other woman I proposed to once, but she wouldn't have me, because I was only twelve years old.' When he said that, how they all laughed, and then the real soldier kissed Big Sister, and put her in his automobile."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, December 4, 1915:

"A two-reel number with a slight plot. The girl's little brother has a liking for toy soldiers. He is mischievous, but she hopes to make a gentleman of him. He joins the Boy Scouts. Later a young cadet arrives from West Point, who brings home the little brother when he becomes lost. Of course the West Point man wins the girl's heart. The number has some interesting action, but the plot could have been much stronger."

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