Volume II: Filmography

WARNER'S WAXWORKS

August 18, 1912 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel (split with As Others See Us at the beginning)

Character: Comedy

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, August 24, 1912:

"John Strong is an explorer, and returning to his native town after a very successful voyage, he is honored by the proprietor of the local waxworks place by having a life-size wax figure of himself displayed in the museum. Strong resents the publicity forced upon him thus, and when he sees the wax figure itself, which is a grotesque likeness, he determines that he will not have it on exhibition. He tries to buy the figure. Warner, the proprietor of the waxworks, however, is vastly proud of his possession, and refuses to sell. Assisted by two young men (friends of his daughters) Strong has the figures spirited away, while he himself takes its place in the museum. The two carry off the dummy. The young men are forced to leave the wax figure hanging out of the window. It is spied by a policeman, who starts in pursuit. He suspects foul play. When the policeman and the crowd which follows him finally catch up with the carriage, they are horror-stricken at catching the two young men in the act of hurling their victim overboard. The supposed murderers are arrested despite their protestations of innocence and marched off to jail. The appearance of Strong himself at the right moment turns a supposed tragedy into a farce, when he tells the true story of the affair."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, August 25, 1912:

"The plot is not evenly unfolded and the play runs by jumps and stops. A famous explorer objects to his likeness being exhibited in a wax works show, but the proprietor of the hall refuses to remove the model. Accordingly, the explorer and his sons resort to bold means to thwart the showman. In his Arctic garb the explorer poses in the place of the wax figure of himself, the change being enacted when the proprietor is diverted by the two other plotters. The figure is carried from the hall, placed in a coach and driven pell-mell to a dock and thrown in the water. In passing the home of the explorer his wife is made to believe that her husband is being abducted, and their fears lead to the arrest of the sons, who are brought home to their supposed guilt. The explorer appears, having run from the hall in his Arctic costume, the mystery is solved, and the joke is on the exhibitor. It is creditably staged in parts and not as well in others, the wax works hall being finely pictured. The action is difficult to follow, as stated, due to the way in which the story is told."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, August 24, 1912:

"On the same reel as As Others See Us. There is an attempt in this picture to make comedy; it is forced."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, August 28, 1912:

"The plot of the farce is a little involved, but it does serve its humorous purpose well, provided one does not try to follow too closely. John Strong, arctic explorer, refuses to be immortalized in wax, so the proprietor of the museum takes it upon himself to have the figure made and exhibited. When Strong sees it he is furious, but Warner will neither remove nor sell it. Then the explorer hatches up a scheme with some friends, and they steal the figure while the proprietor is busy elsewhere. Strong changes clothes with it and poses as the figure, while the boys take the dummy out in a cab and dump it into the river. Mrs. Strong sees the cab pass and thinks her husband is being foully dealt with, so she warns a policeman and there is much excitement until the explorer returns home safe and sound."

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