Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
November 3, 1912 (Sunday)
Length: 1 reel
Character: Comedy
Cast: Florence LaBadie, William Garwood, the Jordan sisters (divers)
Notes: 1. This film was originally scheduled for release on October 20, 1912, and numerous advertisements and trade schedules appeared to this effect. When the film was rescheduled to November 3, 1912, to permit The Woman In White to be released on that date, certain of these schedules were not corrected. 2. The Jordan sisters were hired to do a diving scene in the film. They were not regular actresses.
SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 19, 1912:
"Several young married couples, all intimate friends, decide that it would be fun to have a camp of their own for the summer. One of the party discovered an ideal little island, they lease it, and joyfully proceed there. The men were thoroughly happy. They arose early, ate enormous breakfasts, and then went fishing and hunting. Finally the wives began to ask themselves where they came in. 'It is a picnic for the boys,' remarked one woman, addressing the others. 'We do the cooking, washing, and the general housework.' Finally they agreed that the best thing for them to do was to institute a lock-out. That evening when the husbands returned, there were no wives or supper to greet them, just a note informing them that their 'ex-slaves' had taken up a camp for themselves on the next island. It struck the husbands as a good joke - that is, it did until they sat down to a frightfully prepared supper - then they saw the sorrow of it. One of the husbands had an idea and the others cheered as they adopted it.
"Late that evening, while the wives were supposedly sleeping, two 'vicious tramps' crept into 'petticoat camp.' They expected that the women would shriek with terror but they didn't. Later the 'tramps' were picked up far from shore. 'When we screamed,' they said, 'all those girls got up at once, pulled revolvers and fired at us. They didn't know us and we had to run for our lives. When we took to the water, they stood on the beach firing at us.' Their plot having failed and starvation staring them in the face the husbands waved the white flag which was graciously received, and the terms of capitulation arranged. All the wives wanted was a share of the fun, and the transfer of some of the work to the broad shoulders of the husbands."
REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, November 10, 1912:
"Picturesque in scenery, unique in plot and pleasing because of the story and the many pretty girls appearing in the cast, this comedy is another Thanhouser offering worth securing. A group of summer vacationists go camping, all being married. The women folk finally become disgusted with their husbands because they are obliged to do all of the work while the men go off hunting and fishing. At last the women strike and settle on a nearby island of their own discovery. The husbands try to get along without them, but in vain. A plot to frighten the wives proves unsuccessful, and at last the men are forced to plead for peace, and thus the better halves are brought back to camp, when the work is evenly divided."
REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, November 9, 1912:
"A party of husbands and wives go to an island for a summer outing. The women get tired of doing all the drudgery of the camp and decide to move to an adjoining island. The men arrange a mock raiding party and set out armed with clubs. They are received with pistols. They show up the next day armed with a flag of truce. The picture will amuse. There is one scene, however, that is particularly striking, where the wives have a bathing party all by themselves. The reviewer was in doubt whether the swimmers were the same girls who appeared in the remainder of the film. Certainly they are finished water nymphs."
REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, November 6, 1912:
"Good comedy enlivens this picture that shows the misadventures of half a dozen young married couples, who decide to go camping. They inhabit an island, and the men in the party are so intent on having a good time that they let the wives do all the work. Finally the women decide to strike and off they go to another island, leaving a note that the husbands find on their return from a fishing trip. The men struggle through one meal, then plan to end the strike that night by disguising themselves as tramps and frightening the women into submission. At the points of pistols the make-believe tramps are driven from the island, and the following morning the humiliated men ask humbly for forgiveness. Many amusing incidents of camp life are shown in the picture."
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.