Volume II: Filmography

THE EYE OF KRISHLA

June 22, 1913 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Comedy-drama

Cast: Harry Benham (in a female role as the countess)

Note: Thanhouser advertisement: Harry Benham does another Eltinge stunt. The reference here and in various articles (see below) is to Julian Eltinge, a well-known female impersonator on the stage at the time, who appeared in The Fascinating Widow, among other productions. In Dotty, the Dancer, a Thanhouser film released on October 13, 1912, Benham had appeared as Mlle. Cleo. Other Thanhouser players essayed roles of the opposite sex, with Marie Eline playing numerous boys' parts and Riley Chamberlin playing several women's parts, for example.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, June 28, 1913:

That was the name of the celebrated diamond that disappeared, and a police captain's bungling of the mystery lost him his pet daughter. It looks like a heavy detective drama, but proves a comedy love story.

ARTICLE, The Morning Telegraph, June 22, 1913:

Harry Benham is going to be the Eltinge of the films - the Thanhouser ones. He makes a striking brunette. His first success in a female impersonation was as Dotty in Thanhouser's Dotty, the Dancer of last summer, which showed he had no superior in a female cut-up part. Benham's latest Eltinge stunt may be found in The Eye of Krishla, also a comedy, which Thanhouser releases Sunday, June 22. Here he fools a great detective until the latter catches him smoking a cigar in a masculine way. But by that time the sleuth has been outwitted anyway, and Miss Benham doesn't care.

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, June 28, 1913:

'ELTINGE OF THE FILMS.' 'The Eltinge of the Films' is what they call Harry Benham at the Thanhouser plant. Ever since Harry donned feminine attire for Dotty the Dancer last summer, the Thanhouser directors have picked him for female cut-up parts. Harry makes a dashing brunette. His last 'Eltinge' effort may be viewed in The Eye of Krishla released Sunday, June 22, in which has a surprise finish similar to 'Dotty the Dancer' - Miss Benham is revealed as a he-male. In fact, in his last film, he is bedecked in spats and smoking a big, black cigar in a way that no regular lady could.

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, June 28, 1913:

The police captain had solved a couple of mysteries, and as news was light, the papers had given him much publicity, many of the writers declaring that Sherlock Holmes, Lecoq, and William J. Burns were in the infant class compared to Police Captain Smith. It tickled his vanity, and caused him to look down upon the young man upon whom his daughter had cast her affections. In fact he forbade them to marry, announcing that his son-in-law must be 'a man of brains.' The suitor seemingly accepted the edict, and as days passed, the captain gradually forgot him. Then another opportunity to distinguish himself came along, and he accepted it with alacrity. A countess was robbed of a wonderful diamond, 'The Eye of Krishla,' and the circumstances surrounding the theft were most mysterious. It seemed to be a case calling for personal attention, and Captain Smith plunged into it. From the countess he received all of the details, which really did not explain anything. The captain, however, picked up several clues, including a glove, which he failed to recognize as his own. Outside the window were plainly marked footprints, and with his faithful police dog, the gallant officer took up the trail. It led to his own house, and worse than that, to his own room! The countess had followed him, full of admiration for American detective work. Seemingly by accident, she knocked a cake of soap from the wash stand. The dog crossed to it, the countess picked it up. Then the chase ended, for in the cake of soap was embedded the diamond which the countess called 'The Eye of Krishla.'

The detective could not explain it, but sank helplessly into a chair as the countess left the room haughtily, the diamond in her hand. Later the detective went downstairs, and was shocked to find the countess smoking a cigar and talking to his daughter. Then he found that the noble woman was the suitor he had flouted. He was indignant at first, but when the young man softly said that 'your son-in-law can be relied upon to keep your secret of 'The Eye of Krishla,' he realized that the time had come for him to surrender gracefully unless he wanted the city to laugh at the 'famous' detective. So, like Davy Crockett's coon, he crawled down gracefully, and gave his consent to the marriage.

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, June 28, 1913:

The title of this film prepares the observer for a deep mystery of some Oriental kind, but it is only a polite little comedy, in which the hero misleads the girl's father, a would-be sleuth. The trail leads from the house and back again, where the amateur detective finds the hero portrayed in girl's clothes. The photography is somewhat dim in places.

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, June 25, 1913:

A slight farce wherein a young man, to prove his worth to the girl, disguises himself and plans out a fake robbery to fool the father, a detective. There is not an overabundance of life in the picture; the action is slow and this, combined with the obscure photography that marks the picture, destroys a good portion of the interest.

# # #