Volume II: Filmography

JUST A BAD KID

Thanhouser advertisement in THE MOVING PICTURE NEWS, December 30, 1911. Courtesy of Bebe Bergsten (F-170)

January 9, 1912 (Tuesday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Comedy

Cast: Marie Eline

Note: "The Island" referred to in the synopsis is Blackwell's Island, site of a New York City prison, a location later renamed Roosevelt Island.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, January 6, 1912:

"Just a bad kid was she, brimful of mischief and the joy of being young. Her frolics will really delight your audience - what audience doesn't like to watch the antics of a healthy, happy, lively child? And your audience will have not but sympathy for the child, when they see the sad end that threatens her pranks. Especially since the child is the cunning Thanhouser Kid. This is an exceptional 'cutey' picture. Get it."

ARTICLE (letter to the editor), The Moving Picture World, January 6, 1912:

"New Rochelle, December 22, 1911

"Editor, Moving Picture World

"Dear Editor:

"This is in reply to your letter asking for a photo. I send you herewith a photo which gives my idea of perfect bliss. It was snapped while I was rehearsing in a picture called Just a Bad Kid, and while I don't like a lot of rehearsals usually, I wouldn't have cared if they had a DOZEN rehearsals of THIS scene! The jam was the jammiest, peachiest jam I ever tasted. No picture can picture how I enjoyed it!

"Mr. Thanhouser is going to give me a French poodle dog for Christmas, and I know a lot of others will try to surprise me. But I'm 'on' to most of them. But Mr. Adler bets me a dime that I don't know what his present will be. A Mr. J.T. Mann, of Dallas, Texas, is sending me a Texas prairie dog. These are very little dogs - no larger than a big rat. I will certainly have a merry 'dog' Christmas.

"Very truly,

"The Thanhouser Kid"

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, January 6, 1912:

"'The Bad Kid' was an orphan, and was cared for by a sloppy old woman, who made her work and constantly ill-treated her. The woman beat the child, a kind-hearted neighbor interfered, and a tenement brawl followed. The upshot of it was that the woman was sent to do penance on 'The Island,' and the child was committed to an institution. There she found other children to tease. Inquiry developed that the child had a relative, an uncle, a farmer out West who, although only a distant cousin, was the only kin the girl had. It was a happy day in the institution when he was located, and he agreed to take 'The Bad Kid' off their hands. In her new home the child, having never been taught, kept up her troublesome ways. Her newfound relatives, with a knowledge of her reputation, were not disposed to make allowances, and finally decided that it was a hopeless task to try and reform her, she never would amount to anything.

"The child overheard their conversation, and vowed to be good, for really she was hungry for someone to love her, the only trouble was she didn't know how to go about it, and was too shy to ask. Her pitiful awkward little efforts to 'be a comfort' were a failure, and she ran away, first leaving a letter for the old couple, in which she confessed how she had tried, but knew she had not succeeded. The farmer and his wife were devout church members and interested in foreign missions. The child's note brought home to them a realization that there were other heathens, right at home, who needed to be cared for; so the farmer decided to bring her back. He found the little wanderer some distance from the farm. He tenderly carried her home, but when she revived she wept anew, fearing them. They gently convinced her of their love and assured the weeping child that sometimes, many times, a 'Bad Kid' will grow up to be a good girl if she has the proper care and the proper love, and assured her that they would give her both. And she never tried to run away again."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, January 14, 1912:

"More photoplays of this sort would be welcome. It could not but prove entertaining and it teaches a powerful lesson. Beneath it all lies a bit of psychological child study which makes it all the more interesting, but which does not tend to weight the story. An orphaned tenement house child is sent to an asylum and eventually is sent to relatives in the West. Her upbringing has made her a veritable little street Arab of the toughest sort, but gradually the change of environment and the overhearing of a conversation between the farmer folk make her realize what she is, and she attempts to better her deportment. It is almost a failure at the start and in her discouragement and during a fit of anger she runs away, leaving a note behind. She is found, brought back, and the love of the old folk is doubly asserted and her future seems inevitably happy. The Thanhouser Kid did her best in this play and is deserving of all manner of praise. The others are well cast and the play is acceptably staged."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, January 20, 1912:

"The Thanhouser Kid takes the part of the bad youngster, and she acts it so well that she gives the kid of this picture a human impishness that is most delightful to see - in a picture. In real life, if we had to live with her, we, too, might call her a 'bad kid;' but in a picture, the little player of this part keeps her audience thoroughly in sympathy with the little girl she portrays. Perhaps she had never done anything that was more thoroughly human than this, and it will add a host to her admirers, which are very, very numerous already. The picture is unusually good and desirable. An exhibitor can safely feature this comedy, especially with a good picture in more serious vein."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, January 17, 1912: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

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