Volume II: Filmography

THEIR BURGLAR

Production still with Harry Benham, Marguerite Snow, and William Russell (F-140)

Working title: THE BURGLAR AND THE BRIDE

November 3, 1911 (Friday)

Length: 900 feet

Character: Comedy-drama

Cast: Marguerite Snow; Harry Benham (Jack), William Russell

Note: This film was designated as The Burglar and the Bride in an article in The Billboard, issue of November 16, 1911; this was the working title.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, October 28, 1911:

"Ordinarily a visit from the burglar means a charge in the ledger against 'profit and loss.' But 'their burglar,' through one of those intangible twists of fate, becomes a special messenger both for Fortune and Cupid and delivers a note to a yearning youth and brings him to the side of the one he loves. As a reward for his services the burglar is given all the wedding presents he had come to steal - because he had helped to rescue the bride from the loveless marriage. These gifts give the burglar a new start in life and later he turns plumber. Then it becomes a lead-pipe cinch for him to make a living and be honest."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 28, 1911:

"In the course of a fashionable reception at her home, a young girl quarrels with her suitor. Piqued by a fancied wrong, the girl with complaisance accepts a proposal of a foreign nobleman and determines to forget The Man forever. As time progresses and the day set for her wedding to the sallow baron approaches, she is obsessed by a feeling of discontent and a yearning for a former lover. On the night before the wedding, in a moment of desperation she decides to recall her idol. She pens a note in her boudoir, asking her lover to rescue her from a loveless marriage. At midnight she quietly goes downstairs. The lights are out in the drawing room, but by the candlelight she fancies she sees the butler looking things up; in reality it is an interrupted half-scared burglar who had come to 'look over' the wedding presents. She excitedly thrusts upon the bewildered burglar the note with instructions to be delivered at once, which he does after experiencing some trouble with a policeman, who happens to be awake at the time.

"By delivering the letter to a happy recipient the burglar dodges the officers of the law. But the young man is slightly suspicious, and forces the burglar to accompany him back to the house, until he could learn why the girl selected such an extraordinary-looking messenger. At the house the girl is bewildered. The burglar then confesses, explains that he had called to steal the wedding presents and asks them in return for the service he has rendered, to give him his liberty. They grant his request and do more than that. The girl points out that the wedding gifts are valueless to her under the new arrangement. She is deeply grateful to the burglar, and is anxious to make him happy. So she gives him all the wedding gifts for his very own, and he departs, happy and contented. Later when the couple are married they hear from him. He writes them that he is reformed, and is no longer a burglar, but a plumber; and he sends them a wedding gift, explaining that it is in return 'for the bunch youse gave me.' Being a plumber it is a lead-pipe cinch for him to be honest."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, November 5, 1911:

"Very different from the average burglar story, this is one of the most pleasing of such presentations recently made. It is decidedly well staged and ably played. The toning is excellent and never inconsistently used; the interiors are finely made, and the lighting effects in the girl's home call for special remark. A girl jilts her sweetheart after a quarrel and accepts the offer of marriage of a French count. On the eve before her wedding she regrets her act and opens a note to her lover asking him to call for her at once, when she will wed him. A burglar enters her home and she mistakes him in the semi-darkness for the butler and sends him with the note. He is glad to escape so easily, and on the street is forced to deliver the note to avoid the police. The rest can be imagined. Arrival of lover with the burglar; their marriage, and later receipt of a gift from the burglar in gratitude for the start they had given him by making him accept all of the wedding gifts sent the girl."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, November 11, 1911:

"Their burglar came to steal, but accepted a note from the bride-to-be, who mistook him for the butler. He was chased by the police and asked to deliver the note to escape. The note said, 'If you still love me, come and get me.' When the hero arrives, the girl is ready and the two elope, after making the burglar a present of the wedding presents he had come to steal. She was to have married a count, but he was left in the lurch. There are some good jokes in it. The story is not very strong; it doesn't convince."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, November 8, 1911:

"Here is an exceptionally unique comedy somewhat away from beaten paths. The acting and settings are of a high order, while the story is smooth and graphic in way of telling and directing that shows careful thought. After a lovers' quarrel she agrees to marry the count, but she sees her mistake almost immediately. The night before the wedding she can stand it no longer and writes her lover that if he still loves her to come and take her away. She hears a noise in the drawing room and thinks it is the butler. Without turning up the lights she delivers the note to a burglar without knowing it. Escaping from the house in order to evade a policeman, the burglar decides to deliver the note.

"The burglar returns with the young man, though the necessity is not quite apparent as played, neither is the excuse of his standing around when the lovers meet at the girl's house. It would seem that if the chance afforded he would naturally skip to get out of his difficulty, unless his love of romance and curiosity as to the outcome had been made apparent. The girl gives the burglar her presents and the lovers are married. The last scene is perhaps unnecessary, though amusing. Obviously much more is always gained by terminating a story at its end."

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