Volume II: Filmography Volume II: Filmography
April 5, 1915 (Monday)
Length: 2 reels (Reels 39 and 40)
Note: The title, 30 prints of scenes, and a description of this episode were registered by the Copyright Office on April 1, 1915.
SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, March 27, 1915:
"John Storm came into Mrs. Ramsey's cozy library one afternoon carrying a florist's box. Zudora took it, the color rushing into her cheeks; then, hastily opening the package, she uttered a cry of delight as a mass of velvety red roses yielded up their spicy fragrance. Throwing both arms about his neck, she suffered him to take his thanks in kisses. As she drew back at last from his embrace, the locket at her throat caught on a button of his coat; the slender gold chain snapped, and her mother's keepsake fell to the floor. Storm picked it up and Zudora examined it ruefully. The jewel in the old-fashioned setting was broken. 'Do you think it is a bad omen?' she asked, looking up anxiously.
"'You know I'm not a bit superstitious,' he answered cheerfully, 'Get on your hat and coat and we'll take this to the jeweler's.'
"'Yes, it can be mended,' was the verdict of the little old man behind the counter. 'But you'll have to take out the picture in the back of the locket.' Zudora removed the likeness of her mother. As she did so, a bit of paper, wedged into the cavity behind the portrait, was disclosed. Creasing it out, she and Storm read: 'Your father's will has been left in charge of our trusted friend, Capt. George Radcliffe.' They hurried at once to Tom Hunt's office. They found him in conference with Marcus Villiers. Papers littered the table, and the two men were going over, for the third time, certain documents containing positive proof that Zudora's father had located mines, which probably were the richest in the world. But mention of a will, there was none. And so far as getting any benefit from these South African treasuries was concerned, the heiress might as well have been the daughter of a huckster.
"When Hunt saw the paper which Zudora and Storm had found in the locket he was galvanized into action. He made connections with Jim Baird, who presently arrived at the office. Then they formed a plan for getting into the Grecian Salon, the stronghold of Mme. Duval and the conspirators, with the purpose of finding Zudora's father's will; and Baird departed to take up his watch outside the wily woman's villa. In less than an hour Hunt received word that the coast was clear. It seemed that Mme. Duval and the captain had just left the house to go to the lapidary; if Hunt could come at once they might be able to settle everything. Leaving Villiers at the office, the young man tore uptown to the famous house on the Hudson.
"'You can get in easily by going over the pergola,' Baird excitedly told him. 'The window of Madame's boudoir is just above, and it's open. I'll stay down here to give warning if necessary. If the will isn't in the boudoir, it must be in the Grecian Salon - probably in the secret table.' Hunt, being the lighter and quicker of the two, deftly made the ascent of the pergola and disappeared within. Madame's own room yielded nothing, and he cautiously made his way downstairs. Seeing the butler moving about in the hall, he hid for a moment behind a stone settee in the conservatory, and then slipped into the salon. This time he was able to open the top of the secret table - and presently he held in his hand the last will and testament of Zudora's father. Making his exit as noiselessly as he had come, he rejoined his friend; then hurried back to Villiers with the papers, while Baird went to get policemen to officiate in the arrest of the Captain, Mme. Duval and the lapidary.
"Baird and his assistants were just too late. They took the stone cutter into custody with all the diamonds he had in his possession - but Mme. Duval and her companion already had returned to the Grecian Salon, where they had discovered that the secret table had been rifled. Realizing that Baird and Hunt were keeping close watch on the place, the conspirators were driven to devise a desperate ruse.
"With Captain Radcliffe, Madame Duval called on Zudora to invite her with Storm to an 'At Home, with Dancing.' In the midst of all the festivities the hostess and the captain disappeared and amid intense excitement, a secret panel and underground passage leading to the garage were found, and the fugitives trailed to the dock, from which, already, Madame's private yacht was bearing them to sea. That same night, Villiers and Baird put in Zudora's hands the will establishing her ownership of the Duval villa and the South African mines.
"At Easter time Storm and Zudora were married. Their wedding was celebrated with great magnificence in the Grecian Salon; and Villiers, the first of the guests to congratulate the bride, said heartily, as he pressed her hand, 'My dear, you should be happy. Do you realize that you are indeed fabulously wealthy?' Looking fondly at her husband, Zudora answered: 'With John's love I am the richest woman in the world.'"
REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, April 17, 1915:
"A characteristic number in which the will is finally delivered in Madame Duval's apartments and Zudora comes into her inheritance. She also gains the love of John Storm, which makes her the richest woman in the world. The settings in this are very much as in former numbers, most of the scenes being taken in Madame Duval's apartments."
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Copyright © 1995 Q. David Bowers. All Rights Reserved.