Volume II: Filmography

IN THE NICK OF TIME

August 1, 1913 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel (1,000 feet)

Character: Drama

Cast: William Russell (the husband), Florence LaBadie (the wife), Janet C. Henry

ADVERTISEMENT, The New York Dramatic Mirror, July 23, 1913:

"A man and his wife have differences and separate; their child goes to live with her mother. In her mother's home the child comes upon a great peril. The woman is powerless to help her, but the father does, and a reconciliation follows."

SYNOPSIS,The Bioscope, October 30, 1913:

"Told to entertain a lady buyer, a young salesman incurs the jealousy of his wife. An escape of gas in the flat nearly ends the child's life, but the husband saves her, and the family is reunited."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, August 2, 1913:

"It often happens that very loving wives are also very jealous of the objects of their affections. A young salesman in a dry goods house often heard this statement made, but laughed it to scorn. His wife was devoted to him and their little daughter, and as far as jealousy was concerned, why, she was incapable of so base an impulse. His opinion was put to the test. The head of his firm detailed him to entertain a lady buyer from an out-of-town concern. He took the customer to the theatre, and to dinner at a high-priced restaurant. His wife happened to see him with the woman, and at once arrived at the wrong conclusion, and was jealous. When the salesman arrived home, there was a quarrel. The wife would listen to no explanations, the husband was hotheaded, and the result was that he took his belongings and left his home at once. The wife was well-provided for and she had the companionship of her child. The husband had a comfortable boarding place. But they were both unhappy, for they really cared for each other, and the pride alone prevented them from making up their differences.

"Then fate took a hand in the problem. The wife called upon a neighbor in an adjoining spot, and during her absence her little daughter turned a valve in the gas log. The door leading to the flat snapped shut when the mother crossed the hall and she had forgotten the key. When she discovered her little child's peril, she called frantically for help, and the appeal was answered by her husband. Exerting all his strength, he smashed the door from its hinges and rushed into the flat just in time to save his child's life. The child's peril proved to be a blessing in disguise, for it was the means of bringing the little family together again."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, August 9, 1913:

"The husband is sent to escort a woman buyer. His wife, being informed of this by a jealous clerk, charges her husband with infidelity. That night the child turns the gas on, for no apparent reason, and the father comes just in time to save it. The plot of this is not as strong as it might be."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, August 6, 1913:

"A young salesman is directed by his employer to be escort to a lady buyer, and a jealous clerk anonymously informs the young man's wife that her husband is unfaithful. Therefore husband and wife quarrel. He wants to make up, but his pride won't let him. The wife visits the neighbor one day, leaving their little child, a girl, asleep. The child turns on the gas. The horrified mother, unable to open the door on her return, calls for help, and the husband, who has been hanging around the doorway, responds and saves the child. Mutual anxiety and the child's ultimate recovery leads to a reconciliation. The turning on of the gas is done so deliberately and without any apparent reason, save perhaps that the director told her to do so (the child climbing out of bed, directly turning on the cock and returning), that the picture loses verisimilitude at this point. Also the mother's inability to open the door she has just closed seems unlikely. Otherwise the picture is well worthwhile, acting and photography both being beyond serious reproach."

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