Volume II: Filmography

A CIRCUMSTANTIAL NURSE

British release title: CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE

(Princess)

January 9, 1914 (Friday)

Length: 1 reel (1,002 feet)

Character: Drama

Director: Carl Louis Gregory

Assistant director: Claude Seixas

Scenario: John William Kellette

Cameraman: Carl Louis Gregory

Cast: Boyd Marshall (Tom), Muriel Ostriche (Mary, his daughter), Morgan Jones (superintendent), Catherine Webb (his wife), Dorothy Benham (his child), Marie Eline

Note: Despite Charles Hite's statement in late 1913 that Marie Eline would no longer be known as "The Thanhouser Kid," the advertisement for this film in the January 3, 1914 issue of Reel Life billed her as "The most famous of the 'kids.'" Similarly, the advertisement in the same publication, issue of January 24, 1914, for a subsequent film, The Purse and the Girl, carried the same billing for Marie Eline.

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, January 3, 1914:

"Tom, jailed for another's crime, is discharged because of his excellent record among the prisoners. He returns home, with no money, to find his daughter, Mary, sick. He appeals to a doctor - but in vain. Desperate, he plans to rob his former employer's house to get money for medicine for Mary. That night he breaks into the house - finding it empty except for little Helen, as the family has gone to the theatre, and the servant has slipped off for an hour with her sweetheart. The baby wakes crying with pain. Tom realizes that the youngster is sick, and he stays with her. There Helen's father and mother find him on their return. Their gratitude wins his confidence, and he confesses his plight. When they have heard Tom's story, the wealthy superintendent and his wife gladly give him money and help for Mary."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, January 11, 1914:

"Muriel Ostriche makes a charming wife of a young mechanic. In fact a much more charming one than is found in very many laborer's homes. Tom, her husband, is Boyd Marshall. Tom was discharged by his employer simply because he learned that he had once been in jail. His little girl is ill, and he has no money to buy food or pay the doctor. In desperation he goes to rob his former employer's home. He finds the man's little girl alone in the house and in great danger from croup. Giving up his plan to steal he saves the little child's life by home methods. When her parents return they find him with the task just completed and the baby well. After hearing his story his employer gives him back his job, together with some money to meet immediate needs. A specialist is employed, and the life of Tom's baby is saved."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, January 17, 1914:

"This picture is based on several old and improbable situations, one of them being where the burglar replaces a roll of old bills to attend to the sick baby. Yet with the aid of good photography and capable acting this gets hold of the interest and proves acceptable."

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