Volume II: Filmography

THE KIDDIES' KAPTAIN KIDD

(Falstaff)

May 8, 1916 (Monday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Comedy

Director: William A. Howell

Assistant director: William Sullivan

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Cameraman: George K. Hollister

Cast: Riley Chamberlin (tired, rich uncle), Walter Hiers (his son), Louise Emerald Bates (stenographer)

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Notes: 1. The Moving Picture World printed several erroneous title versions, including Captain Kidd in a review in the May 13, 1916 issue. Others involved punctuation and spelling errors, including The Kiddie's Kaptain Kidd and The Kiddies' Kaptain Kid (cf. issues of May 6 and 13, 1916). 2. Some official notices omitted "the" from the title. 3. Filming of this subject commenced Tuesday, March 14, 1916.

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, May 6, 1916:

"The 'tired business man' believed that the time had come for him to take a rest. He determined to turn over all his property to his son. Naturally he believed that his son would never let him want. The father moved to a quiet little fishing village. Much to his surprise, he was soon destitute, for the son refused to send him any money. The resourcefulness of his bright young stenographer, who liked the father and loathed the son, saved him from the poorhouse. The young woman went to the old man's home and promised him she would establish his credit on a firm foundation. She did as she said. The girl had spread the rumor that he had found the treasure of Captain Kidd. The news reached the son. Anxious to get the gold, he believed he would regain the confidence of his father by returning the business. He did so just as the old man left 'the treasure' in the vault of a local bank. Later, at the suggestion of the girl, he gave the key of the vault to his son. When he opened the vault he discovered several bushels of clams."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, May 13, 1916:

"Riley Chamberlin's impersonation of the uncle who generously signed over his millions to an ungrateful nephew and went to live on a houseboat, is pleasing. The nephew fails to provide for the wants of the generous relative who becomes obliged to dig oysters for a living. The young woman sees him digging up a box out of the sand, visits him and learns the situation, and finally starts to report that the old man has dug Captain's Kidd's treasure from the sea beach. Some children figure in the story believing him to be the real Captain Kidd. The nephew gets taken in on the treasure box, for after returning to his uncle what he has given him in anticipation of more personal gain, he finds that the box contains only rotten oysters."

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