.Yl 1909 - 2

Oh, the woe of simultaneous birthdays, as were Mr. and Mrs. Hardlucks', and both being of a generous nature, were seized with an insatiable desire to make on this anniversary of their nativity suitable gifts, each to the other, Hardluck has a watch, but no fob. Mrs. Hardluck has a wealth of hair, but no decorative comb for her hair. What is worse, finances are low, or rather exhausted. An idea strikes Hardluck. He will pawn his watch and buy a comb; thus surprising her. Mrs. Hardluck's mind is also illumined by a bright thought. She will sacrifice her hair, and with the money buy him a fob. This they do, of course, unknown to each other. Well, here's the situation: He had no fob for his watch, and she no comb for her hair; but now he has no watch for his fob, and she has no hair for her comb. Mack Sennett appears as an extra in this film produced by the Biograph Company.

All the young men in the mining camp flirt with Lucy. Bud, the youngest of them, doesn't stand a chance. At a dance, Bud dresses as a woman and all the men flirt with him and abandon Lucy. When his disguise is revealed, the other men are too embarrassed to approach Lucy, and Bud dances the rest of the night with her.

A wife offers to support her artist husband by teaching piano. She can't find work at the conservatory, and ends up working in a laundry, without telling him the truth. When he discovers her lie, he is determined to leave her, until she is injured and he understands the sacrifice she made for him.

A pair of young ladies cause trouble at the cinema with their lavish hats.

Tom Carlton, leader of a band of Western bandits, tires of his life of crime and resolves to reform.

Out-of-work, Tim steals a sandwich, then knocks out the policeman who chases him. He changes into the policeman's uniform, and is approached by a wife who needs help with her drunken husband.

"A pathetic story of mother's grief. No more intense emotion can be imagined than a mother's grief for her dead child. and this Biograph subject beautifully portrays a story of maternal bereavement. It also shows the seemingly cruel workings of fate in taking from the earth the happy, well-cared for child while leaving the poor, ragged orphan to be starved and beaten by a couple of merciless wretches, into whose hands she has fallen." --Moving Picture World, Vol. 4, No. 1 (January 2nd, 1909).

A Duke's daughter is loved by a gallant knight, but her father wants her to marry another. With the help of his friends, the knight hatches an elaborate scheme to marry his sweetheart.

A man, his wife and their two sons are having a meal. One of the sons leaves the room pretending to be ill and collects a bunch of flowers form a cupboard and goes out. The other son takes a bunch of flowers from under his bed and he too leaves, followed by their father, also carrying flowers. The two sons and their father call on the same young women one after the other; as each arrives, the previous suitor is hidden in a piece of furniture: the father under a chair cover, one son in a cupboard and the other in a piano. A girlfriend of the young woman visits and the two play pranks on the hiding men by playing the piano and sitting on the chair cover. The three men emerge and the father chases his two sons outside until they remind him of his own folly; he gives his sons some money and urges them to keep silent.

Based on characters from Shakespeare's play: When Juliet's father refuses to let Romeo see her, Romeo resorts to extreme measures.

A shoe-factory worker puts a note in a shoe box offering to marry the lucky buyer. As a result, she is dismissed from her job, but her employer finds her so attractive that he suggests a new job for her, as his wife.

George, passing a pretty woman in the street, has recourse to that old-time trick of dropping his own handkerchief and hurrying after her, making believe that he thinks it is hers. On examining the handkerchief, the beauty returns it, telling George that it does not belong to her. He then confesses that he knows very well that it is not her property, as it happens to be his own, and his offering it to her was only an excuse to make her acquaintance, so struck was he by her beauty. Upon this frank declaration the young woman draws herself up haughtily, but George is not to be discouraged, but follows closely behind her, ready to be of any assistance on the slightest pretext. We therefore see him arriving at the lady's house laden down with such articles as a lampshade, a statuette, a bunch of roses, a bundle of dress goods, and, in addition, leading an enormous dog on a leash, against whose attacks he is endeavoring to protect himself.

“The Biograph people tell an excellent story in this, and tell it so strongly that it grips very close. The scene where the husband gets into the room to find his wife bending over the dead body of a man is very strong, though perhaps not materially stronger than the one where the girl’s first husband deserts her. Technically the film is excellent. All the little details are worked out to precision and the characters act naturally, as real people might be expected to do in similar circumstances.” --Moving Picture World

Charles Shea, the handsome young foreman of the Bar Z ranch, has won the love of the winsome daughter of his employer, John Graham. Alice and he are engaged to be married when a telegram announcing the death of his father and the request that he immediately return East, is handed Shea. Promising to return immediately the estate is settled. Shea bids Alice good-bye and leaves for the East. A year passes and no word from Charley. The girl is in despair and. though every cowpuncher on the place loves her madly, she refuses each one in turn, declaring that she will wait for Charley, whom she is sure will return soon.

Mr. and Mrs. Hilton throw a New Year's Eve party. They agree not to drink the punch themselves, but as guests begin to arrive their resolve weakens, and soon they are both cavorting drunkenly. Next morning Mr. Hilton, feeling very sick, is conscience-stricken over his drunkenness and his behavior with another woman. He fears to face his wife until he discovers that she feels just as guilty herself.

Fanny is the wife of Ben Webster, a trapper, and while he is an affectionate and dutiful husband, she yearns for something which appears better than her lot. She reasons: "Have I not youth and beauty and attainments far above this environment? Why should I be compelled to toil and struggle in this wilderness?"

Mercedes orders her sweetheart to prove his love by doing something dangerously heroic. He agrees, breaking into another young woman's house in order to steal a photograph. The young woman catches him and has him arrested, but he is released when a family friend bribes the police. Mercedes eventually returns the stolen photograph only to find her boyfriend in the other woman's arms.

An upper class drawing room. A gentleman breaks the curtain pole and goes in search of a replacement, but he stops into a pub first. He buys a very long pole, and causes havoc everywhere he passes, accumulating an ever-growing entourage chasing him, until he escapes them through a bit of movie magic, only to discover that the pole has already been replaced.

Max at an evening party takes a necklace from one of the guests and makes good his escape. The guests and the police set out in pursuit but Max employs some novel methods and among others mounts a boat on the water chute and finally makes good his escape in a balloon which soars far out of reach of his would-be captors. This film is just cram full of novel situations and laughable episodes.

The Ranchman's Rival is a silent Western