Volume II: Filmography

THE GHOST IN UNIFORM

February 23, 1913 (Sunday)

Length: 1 reel

Character: Comedy

Director: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Scenario: Lloyd F. Lonergan

Cast: Marie Eline (the young boy ghost); Helen Badgley, Frederick H. Waldorf (mayor of New Rochelle, as himself), John J. O'Brien (New Rochelle receiver of taxes, as a newspaper buyer), Morris Trohn (newspaper buyer)

Note: The title of this film appeared as A Ghost in Uniform in several announcements, however The Ghost in Uniform appeared in most advertisements and trade notices.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, March 1, 1913:

With the erection of a new police headquarters, the city force abandoned the old. One night two tramps, seeking quarters, entered the old building and would have closed their eyes in sweet slumber, had they not seen a headless specter in police uniform. They rushed out. Returning with police aid, they found the ghostly inhabitant to be - well, SEE THE PICTURE.

ARTICLE, The Evening Standard (New Rochelle), February 17, 1913:

One of the cleverest bits of local genre and an example of rapid motion picture scenario writing is The Ghost in Uniform, which was put on the Thanhouser projecting machine for the first time Saturday afternoon. The first run of the picture was witnessed by Police Lieutenant Frank Cody, Sergeant Edward F. Deveaux, Sergeant Joseph Fanelli, and a representative of The Evening Standard. It is a police picture and a good one. The policemen who saw it were highly pleased and complimented president Charles J. Hite, Lloyd Lonergan who wrote the scenario, and Mrs. Lonergan who superintended the finishing of the film.

The story is about a little newsboy, Marie Eline, the Thanhouser Kid, and his sister who were left homeless and are discovered sleeping in a wagon covered with old coarse blankets and bags. The boy decides to sell newspapers to support himself and his sister. The next scene finds him in front of the office of The Evening Standard, when he persuades the circulation man to give him papers on credit. He takes his place in front of the city hall where he sells his papers. Among the purchasers are receiver of taxes, John J. O'Brien, and Morris Trohn who pay cash. The boy counts his money, goes back to pay the circulation man who lets him keep the money, and goes to buy a cake for himself and his sister.

On the way he sees the police department ready to depart from their old headquarters in the city hall and follows them to the new building on Lawton Street. Mayor Waldorf, the police commissioners and the policemen, march up Lawton Street and into the new police station. The portraits of all are excellent. After buying his cake, the boy goes back to the wagon and finds that his sister has been arrested. Meanwhile a policeman discovers the girl in the wagon and is taking her to police headquarters when, in passing the flats on Rose Street, he meets his wife sweeping the sidewalk. She takes the girl into her home.

The little boy, believing his sister is locked up, goes to the new police station to inquire for her but is told she is not there. It is night and freezing cold. The boy breaks into the abandoned police station, finds an old discarded uniform, puts it on for warmth, and makes a bed under the sergeant's old desk. While he is asleep, two tramps break in, discover the cake on the desk and are going to eat it when it disappears. The boy has awakened, rescued the cake and then lifts the policeman's cap and coat above the desk on an old nightstick. The tramps think it is a ghost and beat it away. They are arrested and taken to the new police station where they tell a wild ghost story. Three policemen are sent to find the ghost. With drawn revolvers they enter the old place and are startled by the appearance of the ghost behind the desk. Just as they are about to shoot, the boy discloses himself. The cops, finding the joke on them, take the boy to the police station where his sister finds him and a collection is taken for them in the old cap. The last scene shows the boy prosperous as the official police bootblack and he and his sister are better clothed and happy.

A few days before the police department moved into its new quarters Lloyd Lonergan learned of it and at once thought out the plot and wrote the scenario. The first pictures were made on the day of the removal, when the ceremony was delayed ten minutes because the camera was not ready. The other scenes were made during the following week. Mrs. Lonergan gave the policemen who saw the picture pieces of the film that had been cut out.

ARTICLE, The Moving Picture World, March 11, 1913:

In a story in the World printed last week under the heading: 'The Ever-Important Picture,' it was narrated how Lloyd F. Lonergan, of Thanhouser, held up a police parade in New Rochelle for 15 minutes because his cameraman wasn't ready and 'the sun wasn't up.' It was a fact story, too, as Chief Timmons, of the New Rochelle Police Department, and the police force as a whole, will attest. But the item failed to tell what the excitement was about - what kind of a picture demanded that so important a procession be so long delayed. It was a story about a ghost in a deserted police station, says Bert Adler, humbly begging the world pardon for omitting the information originally. The Thanhouser Kid plays the ghost.

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, March 1, 1913:

A little orphan boy found that the high cost of living was too much for his income as a seller of newspapers, so he is frequently compelled to sleep outdoors. Being a resourceful chap, however, he got a bright idea when he learned that the police of a certain precinct were moving from one station house to another. Without consulting anyone the youngster moved into the abandoned building by entering a rear window. He had an additional piece of luck, for he found an old uniform coat and helmet which had been left behind by one of the policemen. The garment made an excellent overcoat and night robe combined, and under the sergeant's desk was a spot well sheltered from drafts, where the youngster soon fell into a sleep. Had he been the only one to cast envious eyes upon the old station, it might have been his home for a long time. It happened, however, that two tramps saw the building which to them was an old acquaintance, as they had frequently been prisoners there. They decided to pass the night as free men within the walls where they had been prisoners and found no difficulty in gaining an entrance.

While exploring they walked over to the sergeant's desk and were horrified when a figure in a blue uniform rose from behind it and confronted them. They could see the official helmet, the coat with the brass buttons, and although the figure had no head it moved menacingly toward them. With wild yells the tramps moved out and away, only to fall in the hands of a vigilant bluecoat. At the new station they told the sergeant their experience and he sent the reserves out to 'lay the ghost.' They returned soon afterward with the frightened little boy who sobbingly told them his story. They were sympathetic. Those big gruff policemen, and through their kindly aid he found work and was never again compelled to pose as a ghost in uniform to secure a night's lodging.

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, March 2, 1913:

Thoroughly original in plot, this play is so effectively staged and acted that it adds another success to the list produced by this firm. It is a story of a poor little newsboy who is obliged to spend most of his nights in the open, and when he finds that the police of the precinct have moved to new quarters he slips into the old station and makes himself comfortable in a cozy nook under the sergeant's old desk, with an old uniform coat as a blanket. Two hoboes seek refuge in the same place, and as they snoop around they come upon what they take for the ghost of a policeman and rush forth badly frightened. A policeman places them under arrest, and at the new station they tell of their experience. On investigation the cause of the fright is discovered, and the little newsy is brought before the sergeant and his troubles are told. He is cared for more properly, and later is given permanent work. Under it all there is a strong heart interest, while the comedy situation during the flight of the tramps is so amusing that none can view it without enjoyment.

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, March 8, 1913:

A comedy offering with a slight plot, in which the Thanhouser Kid creeps into the deserted police station to pass the night, after losing his crippled sister. He frightens away two tramps by exhibiting a uniform and a hat on a stick. They return later, with some officers, and the boy is discovered to be the supposed ghost. He then finds his sister.

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, February 26, 1913:

This film opens with a touch of pathos, ends in pure farce and leaves the impression that determination has very little bearing on the opening of the story. The Thanhouser Kid and Kidlet are first shown as two forlorn little vagabonds sleeping under rags in an old wagon. While the boy is earning a few pennies, the girl is taken by the police. Later the little fellow, having sold his papers, seeks shelter in what appears to be an abandoned police station. He dons an old uniform and helmet and curls up behind the desk. To frighten two hobos who enter, he raises the policeman's regalia on a stick, and they conclude that the place is haunted by a ghost. Policemen sent to investigate gain the same impression, until the masquerading youngster is disclosed. It is moderately entertaining.

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