Volume II: Filmography

THE ONLY GIRL IN CAMP

a.k.a. THE ONLY GIRL IN THE CAMP

January 10, 1911 (Tuesday)

Length: 480 feet (split with Everybody Saves Father, a 450-foot subject, at the beginning)

Character: Drama

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, January 7, 1911:

"Is the Thanhouser idea of what a Western story ought to be - a lifelike portrayal of a lively plot, a variable knockout blow at the 'usual thing.' Senseless 'chases' have no place in this picture - nothing 'comes off' that wouldn't if the certain events transpired in real life. So here you have that fairly uncommon thing, Wild West release of the logical theme, but enough thrills to carry it through to a 'big' finish."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, January 14, 1911:

"'The girl,' daughter of Trapper Gates, is the only woman in a mining camp. The miners are well fixed, and three ruffians decide to rob them by strategy. So they visit the camp, and Bill, the leader, introducing himself as Professor Watson, announces that he will deliver a free lecture on a secret method of locating gold deposits. By this ruse he lures all the miners into the town hall and, aided by his two pals, easily holds up and 'trims' them. The girl's father and sweetheart attend the lecture, but the girl is worried. It strikes her that there is something wrong about the entire affair. She goes to investigate, and finds that the miners are helpless and are being 'cleaned out.' There are no men in the camp to notify, as they are all at the lecture. The girl also realizes that, alone, she is unable to cope with three armed men. Suddenly she thinks of her father's bear traps. She hastens home, gets them, and spreads them out on the steps of the town hall. The robbers back out, covering the crowd as she expected. They step into the bear traps and are easily captured, through the wit of 'the only girl in camp.'"

REVIEW, The Billboard, January 21, 1911:

"Three schemers plan to rob a mining camp, their ruse being to attract all the men in the camp to the town hall and then relieve them of their valuables. They are successful until the time for their departure from the hall arrives, when they walk into bear traps placed on the steps by the girl, who peering through a window had obtained the knowledge of the scheme. The appearance of the prop traps leaves one to wonder how a man could possibly be held fast in a contrivance of this sort. In itself, the picture, which is a variation entreatment of a familiar theme, is fairly interesting."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, January 21, 1911:

"A lively story of how some sharpers get the entire population of a mining town to a hall, on pretense of hearing a lecture, and there held them up. A girl, the only one in camp, discovering the situation, thwarts the scheme by placing bear traps on the hall steps, and as the sharpers back out, keeping the crowd covered, they are caught and held fast. This novelty is new, and no one can deny that it is good."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, January 18, 1911:

"Three strangers ride into a mining camp which has only one girl, and distribute circulars saying that in the town hall they propose to present a secret method for locating gold. The girl, however, distrusts them, and after the men are all assembled in the hall she rides to town and looks in the window. The three strangers have held up the entire crowd and are fleecing them. She rides back and gets her father's bear traps. These she places in front of the town hall door, and the men are caught in them while backing out. This novel procedure creates quite a laugh."

# # #