Volume II: Filmography

THE BLACK TERROR

(Mutual Program)

September 29, 1916 (Friday)

Length: 2 reels

Character: Drama

Director: Fred A. Kelsey

Scenario: Philip Lonergan

Cast: Thomas A. Curran (Jack), Barbara Gilroy (May), Robert Vaughn (Frank), Violet Hite, Morgan Jones, Arthur Bauer, William Burt

Location: Jacksonville, Florida

Notes: 1. This was a left-over film, released on the Mutual Program, and made before Thanhouser was affiliated with the Pathé Exchange, Inc. The picture was produced by Thanhouser's Jacksonville studio, beginning the week of May 8, 1916. 2. Philip Lonergan used the character names of Jack and May, two favorites of his brother, Lloyd F. Lonergan.

ARTICLE by Tracey Hollingsworth, "Flivers From Film Folk" column, The Florida Metropolis, May 18, 1916:

"Billy Burt is given to practical joking and had the pleasure of enjoying a 'dose of his own medicine' Tuesday evening. Bill had a very important engagement for 5 p.m. Tuesday, and the 'bunch' happened to hear the date made and the time set. Director Fred Kelsey was using Bill in his new picture, The Black Terror, and at the finish of the scene every mother's son of the bunch suddenly left and there was the popular 'villain' tied hard and fast, and it was after 6:30 o'clock that evening before he could release himself. We understand that Fred Kelsey promised to whip the man that dared go to Billy's aid, and as Fred has over 200 pounds of perfectly good bone, and since we can see where the 'poor captive' had to accomplish his 'escape unaided,' Billy says that he is going to learn to talk French over the phone."

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, September 30, 1916:

"The Black Terror, a two-part Thanhouser picture, featuring Thomas Curran and Barbara Gilroy, is released this week. This is also a detective story, short, but packed from beginning to end with mystery and thrill. Mr. Curran is given an interesting characterization, one which it takes a real knowledge of psychology to interpret."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, October 14, 1916:

"Jack, who loves May, wins only her friendship, until one day, when Frank, the lover whom she has favored, asks her to lend him money to help him save the fortune he has thrown away at the roulette wheel. Unable to get aid from May, Frank goes to Jack, who readily promises to help him out, telling Frank, however, that he will have to wait a week for the money. That night, Jack's house is robbed, and among the stolen treasures is a small elephant, worth its weight in gold, which Frank had admired that afternoon. A purse found on the floor bears evidence of being the property of Frank. Jack obtains the confession from Frank's butler that his master had come home about midnight the night before, dressed in a peculiar tight-fitting black costume and carrying a mysterious black bag.

"It would have fared ill with Frank if Jack were not the noble fellow he was. Rather than break May's heart, for Jack still thinks May loves Frank, he refuses to prosecute, preferring rather to treat the incident as a practical joke. It leaks into the papers, however, and reaches May's ears, who thereupon refuses to have anything to do with Frank. By and by she recognizes the true greatness of Jack's character and consents to marry him. The marriage is consummated while Frank vows bitter revenge. Frank's butler, out of employment, applies to Jack and is given a position. Later, at a weekend party at Jack's house, the guests catch sight of a terrible figure in black, which frightens them nearly to death. Jack advises them to bring all their valuables to the safe. On returning from a canoe ride later, the guests find the butler unconscious on the floor, and the safe blown open and looted. On recovering consciousness, the butler said that the Black Terror had attacked him, and that the explosion of the safe had rendered him unconscious. In the week that follows the Black Terror and his accomplice are brought to justice. The guest's theory is right. The Terror is none other than Jack, and his aide, the butler."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, September 30, 1916:

"A two-part melodrama of considerable interest in which a young man is wrongly accused of theft and also being connected with a murder. At a house party given by one of his accusers the masked man appears and terrorizes the guests. The police, taking a hand, discover that the host, with his butler, are the guilty parties. A pretty love story is also part of the production."

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