Volume II: Filmography

Episode 2 .

THE MILLION DOLLAR MYSTERY

THE FALSE FRIEND

a.k.a. THE MASTER'S MAN

June 29, 1914 (Monday)

Length: 2 reels (reels 3 and 4)

Note: Under the title of The False Friend, prints of 21 scenes were deposited in the Copyright Office on June 9, 1914.

SYNOPSIS-ARTICLE (Episodes 2 and 3), Reel Life, July 4, 1914:

"The Thanhouser 46-reel serial, The Million Dollar Mystery, is released each Monday in episodes of two reels each. The reels in each episode are termed respectively Part One and Part Two. In last week's issue of Reel Life, Episode One of The Mystery, released Monday, June 22, was reviewed. In this week's issue we tell in synopsis form the story contained in Episodes Two and Three, Parts Three to Six, inclusive.

"When the Black Hundred conspirators broke into the House of Mystery to find that Sidney [sic; should be Stanley] Hargreave, the renegade member of their band, had escaped from the roof of the mansion in the balloon of A. Leo Stevens, they came upon Jones, Hargreave's faithful butler. After tying him to a chair they subject him to a hurried third degree in an effort to make him reveal where his master had hidden his fortune. After Hargreave's escape they abandon their attempt to learn anything from the butler, believing that Hargreave has taken the money with him in the balloon.

"Episode Two, Part One, shows Jones, the butler, struggling to free himself. Removing the receiver from the telephone resting on the table near his chair, with his teeth, the butler calls police headquarters. A platoon of police soon arrive and unbind him. They find the safe in the Hargreave's home broken open and its contents scattered about. A search is begun for the conspirators. Florence Gray (Hargreave's daughter) arrives with Miss Farlow to find her father gone.

"Jones, who meets her at the station, produces the other half of the bracelet which Florence carries, and gives her a letter from her father instructing her to trust him implicitly. Florence hardly has had time to adjust herself to her new surroundings when she has two visitors. One of them is Norton, the reporter, who reveals himself as a true friend. The other is Countess Olga Petroff who, upon the pretense that she knew Florence's father, tries to ingratiate herself into the girl's confidence.

"While the Countess, Norton, Florence and Miss Farlow are together, two of the conspirators, representing themselves to be Central Office detectives, force their way into the house in an effort to find Hargreave's money for which they did not have time to search thoroughly the night before. Norton at once recognizes the detectives as impostors and calls up police headquarters. The conspirators suspect the reporter and while a desperate fight is in progress the police arrive. The two conspirators are captured and taken away.

"During the fight the Countess Petroff, seeing the struggle going against Braine, succeeds in tripping up the reporter. Norton, however, manages to pinion his man, and, although suspicious of the Countess, says nothing when the police arrive. She is allowed to depart without being molested. The conspirators, taking advantage of a street accident, in which a child is run down by an automobile, break away from the police when the vigilance of the latter is relaxed for a moment. The exciting episode in which Norton has figured cements the friendship between him and Florence, and the reel closes with a pretty scene between the young couple. The Countess Olga, clever adventuress that she is, still remains unsuspected of complicity with the conspirators who are plotting the death of Florence Gray's father and the seizure of his great fortune."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, July 5, 1914:

"The Million Dollar Mystery promises to be the best long distance thrill of the year. Episode II continues the suspense and excitement of the first installment without a single dull spot in the action. The cloth of the Thanhouser serial so far as it has been unrolled is an elegant piece of goods which may be guaranteed to wear well, and certainly looks as if it would make up into a suit which can be used by every picture exhibitor every day in the week!

"The finished work of Sidney Bracy as Hargreave's butler, and the charm of Florence LaBadie as Florence Gray, the mysterious millionaire's daughter, continue to be the strongest assets of the picture if one does not consider the gatling gun mystery action of the film. All of the characters of the play are as good in the second episode as they were in the first; which is saying a good deal.

"The first reel of the new installment shows the struggles of Jones, the butler, to free himself from the chair in which he has been tied by the conspirators who broke into the Hargreave home following the sensational balloon escape of the millionaire. Having finally succeeded in unhooking the telephone receiver with his teeth and summoning the police, a search is begun for the conspirators. Florence Gray and her school friend meanwhile arrive at the station and are met by the butler, who gives the girl a letter from her father advising her to trust the servant.

"On their arrival at the house Florence receives two visitors, one of them Norton, a reporter, and the other a woman who calls herself Countess Petroff and pretends that she knew the girl's father. Norton proves himself a real friend in a fight which follows the entrance of two men representing themselves as detectives, but who are in reality two confederates of the Black Hundred searching for the money. Norton gets the better of his adversaries and telephones the police. The young reporter suspects the Countess, but she is allowed to depart peacefully. The two conspirators are arrested, only to escape while being led to jail in the excitement which follows a chance automobile accident."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, July 1, 1914: This review is reprinted in the narrative section of the present work.

REVIEW (Episodes 1 and 2), Variety, June 26, 1914:

"A large crowd witnessed the press showing of the first two episodes of this new Thanhouser 'continued in our next picture.' The dailies had a man there as well as the trade papers. An introductory quarter-reel was shown to introduce the players (separate from the first reel of the story).

"The initial reel shows a man putting his child on the door step of a school. He attracts the attention of the matron inside who finds the child. The man is not seen by her. A note tells her to educate the infant and that she will be well repaid for her trouble. A half bracelet is left with the child who, when she becomes 18 is to go to her father, who will identify her by the other half of the bracelet. Time lapses. The girl becomes very popular in school and grows into young womanhood. The girl's father, Hargreave, had joined a society, the Black Hundred clique of Russian millionaires. He is an exile from his country and a price is upon his head.

"After a number of years he feels his appearance has changed so that he can return to his native land. He sends to have his daughter come home and arranges to leave the country, turning his holdings into ready money and preparing for a sudden flight. He goes to a restaurant and is recognized by a reporter. In the place at the time were two spies who had been searching for the man for years. They also recognize him and make for the headquarters of the society located in this country. A picture of him when he was a young man is in the possession of the society. The spies gain admittance to the meeting place of the clique and from that time on Hargreave is a marked man. Upon his arrival at his home he is annoyed by someone putting a note under the door. He learns that his identity has been discovered. He shaves his mustache and as the house is surrounded, goes to the roof and signals to his friend (a balloonist) with a sky rocket. The balloon carries him away.

"During the time he is in the house the money is in the safe, but a pair of hands in the dark, the owner of which no one knows, opens the safe and takes the money. Upon his escape the men who surround the house search for the $1,000,000 but it is gone. One decides to wreck the balloon. Going to the roof he shoots at it and manages to make a hole, causing it to fall into the sea. The girl leaves school with a companion and arrives at her home to learn that her father has disappeared. The butler has money enough to look after the wants of the household. The conspirators believe that the girl knows where the money is hidden so plan to gain the information from her. The reporter comes to the house to get news of the mystery. A young woman is sent by the conspirators to gain the confidence of the girl and make herself known as an old friend of the father. The reporter makes numerous visits and becomes rather engrossed in the girl. Two of the plotters masquerade as detectives and search the house. The reporter happens in and shows them up just when they are about to take the girl to their den. He summons the police and they have the two in the bracelets. The woman spy is in there at the time but it is not known that she is connected with the other two. While going down the street with the two prisoners a young child is run over by an automobile and the cops' attention is taken from their prisoners, who skip and the big chase is commenced, which leads down along the riverside.

"The picture is full of thrills and is bound to have a big following as it goes along. The photography is clear and the interiors are well arranged. A great number of these weekly two-reel releases have been pushed upon the market but there has yet to be one that is on a par with this Thanhouser mysterious film story."

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