Volume II: Filmography

WHEN THE WHEELS OF JUSTICE CLOGGED

May 31, 1914 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel (999 feet)

Character: Western drama

Director: James Durkin

Assistant director: Jack Sullivan

Scenario: John William Kellette

Cast: Boyd Marshall (Tom), Mayre Hall (Nell), James S. Murray (Jim, Nell's father), John Lehnberg (the sheriff), Mr. Harns (Manuel, a three-shell gambler), William Sherwood (Pat, the bartender), Jack Sullivan, Charles Emerson, Morris Foster

Location: Ogdensburg, New Jersey

SYNOPSIS, Reel Life, May 23, 1914:

"Jim goes to town to pay off the mortgage, his daughter, Nell, with him. Stopping at the saloon, he tells Nell he must have just one drink. She reminds him that he has the mortgage money in his pocket, and as they stand there talking, Manuel, a gambler, overhears them. He makes up his mind that he will relieve the rancher of his cash. Jim in spite of Nell's protests, has not only one drink, but several. Almost before he realizes it, he has been drawn into a three-shell game which Manuel has started in the saloon, and, against the advice of a young stranger who is watching the table, he wagers his last dollar. Manuel makes his escape, and Jim returns, much sobered, to his daughter. Tom meets Nell - and decides it will be worth his while to recover the mortgage money. He tracks Manuel and holds up the stage in which he is fleeing the country. When he has picked out his man, he orders the stage off, and searching Manuel to the skin brings to light Jim's money. Then it comes over him that the hold-up will be reported and that he may be hanged. He scribbles a note to Nell and wraps up the money in the paper. Then weighting the missile with a stone he rides like mad to the girl's house and throws the money in through the window. A moment later the sheriff and his posse are on the scene. A noose goes around Tom's neck - just as Nell flashes in among the horsemen and thrusts the paper into the sheriff's hand. Tom's note speaks for itself. The boys ride off, cheering him. Then Tom puts his arm around the girl and gently leads her away."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, June 6, 1914:

"Western love story with the heroine riding fast to save her sweetheart from the noose of the sheriff's posse. Yet it is a well-made picture of its kind, and where offers like it are wanted it should prove of service. The acting, backgrounds, the riding and the photography are acceptable."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, June 3, 1914:

"An acceptable Western melodrama that remains true to its rather well-known type. There are few distinguishing marks in either story or productions, but both suffice. When an old man is robbed by a gambler, two cowboys, out of sympathy for the victim's daughter, rather than the victim, hold up the stagecoach in which the gambler is riding away with his loot. The cowboys, in turn, are pursued by a posse, and are about to pay the penalty of bandits, when the girl intervenes, to show that the hold-up served the ends of justice. Some of the scenes offer pleasing bits of clear photography."

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