A Dash of Courage

Last updated

A Dash of Courage
Still from silent film A Dash of Courage (1916).jpg
Still from film featuring William Mason, Harry Gribbon, Wallace Beery and Raymond Griffith
Directed by Charley Chase
Produced by Mack Sennett
(Keystone Studios)
Starring Gloria Swanson
Wallace Beery
CinematographyPaul Garnett
Distributed by Triangle Film Corporation
Release date
  • May 7, 1916 (1916-05-07)
Running time
20 minutes; 2 reels
CountryUnited States
LanguageSilent with English intertitles

A Dash of Courage is a 1916 American silent comedy film directed by Charley Chase, starring Gloria Swanson, [1] and featuring Wallace Beery, to whom she was briefly married. [2] [3]

Contents

Synopsis

A band of crooks, headed by Harry Gribbon, are on a train when they learn of a telegram sent to a fellow passenger, who is a police commissioner. The wire identifies him as official collector for the Old Cops' Home. A little chloroform does for him and when the train pulls out of his destination he is still on board while Gribbon is posing as the commissioner-collector. Great preparations have been made to receive the distinguished visitor. The only drawback to the welcome is the sour music dispensed by the police band. The musicians are sent upstairs in the police station to practice some more, and here they are found by Gribbon's associates. A quart of chloroform poured while they are asleep the crooks exchange clothing with them. During the interruption Gribbon has begun his collecting by attempting to rob the safe of the richest man in town. Woodward telephones for the police and the crooks respond. They suggest that he wait until the culprit has the money, which can be used as evidence. Gribbon is then arrested by his own men. Woodward suspicious after a long wait, again telephones to the station and is answered by the real police, who have revived. Their pursuit is complicated by the fact that they are wearing the clothes which belong to the pursued. A combination of thrills and laughs brings the picture to a close.

Moving Picture World, May 27, 1916 [4]

Cast

Reviews

Louis Reeves Harrison's review in The Moving Picture World (1916) said that Harry Gribbon's performance offered "much that is new in characterization and in his personality, and his support is active enough to make the little play move with snap from start to finish". [5] Thomas C. Kennedy said in his review for Motography (1916) that "one finds many really humorous moments, and the picture tells a story that is always interesting; in fact, a story with such continuity as this one has is quite unusual in farce of the Keystone type". Kennedy praised the actor's performances, highlighting Gribbon's leading role saying, he "wins the acting honors". [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace Beery</span> American actor (1885-1949)

Wallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American film and stage actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill (1930) opposite Marie Dressler, as General Director Preysing in Grand Hotel (1932), as Long John Silver in Treasure Island (1934), as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa! (1934), and his titular role in The Champ (1931), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Beery appeared in some 250 films during a 36-year career. His contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stipulated in 1932 that he would be paid $1 more than any other contract player at the studio. This made Beery the highest-paid film actor in the world during the early 1930s. He was the brother of actor Noah Beery and uncle of actor Noah Beery Jr.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gloria Swanson</span> American actress (1899–1983)

Gloria May Josephine Swanson was an American actress and producer. She first achieved fame acting in dozens of silent films in the 1920s and was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, most famously for her 1950 return in Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, which also earned her a Golden Globe Award.

The year 1919 in film involved some significant events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essanay Studios</span> American film production company

The Essanay Film Manufacturing Company was an early American motion picture studio. The studio was founded in 1907 in Chicago, and later developed an additional film lot in Niles Canyon, California. Its various stars included Francis X. Bushman, Gloria Swanson and studio co-owner, actor and director, Broncho Billy Anderson. It is probably best known today for its series of Charlie Chaplin comedies from 1915-1916. In the late 1916 it merged with other studios and stopped issuing films in the fall of 1918. According to film historian Steve Massa, Essanay is one of the important early studios, with comedies as a particular strength.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallace Reid</span> American actor (1891–1923)

William Wallace Halleck Reid was an American actor in silent film, referred to as "the screen's most perfect lover". He also had a brief career as a racing driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noah Beery</span> American actor (1882–1946)

Noah Nicholas Beery was an American actor who appeared in films from 1913 until his death in 1946. He was the older brother of Academy Award-winning actor Wallace Beery as well as the father of prominent character actor Noah Beery Jr. He was billed as either Noah Beery or Noah Beery Sr. depending upon the film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seena Owen</span> American actress

Seena Owen was an American silent film actress and screenwriter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Vernon</span> American actor (1897–1939)

Bobby Vernon was an American comedic actor in silent films. He later became a writer and comedy supervisor at Paramount for W. C. Fields and Bing Crosby, when the sound era arrived. Blue-eyed with medium brown hair, he stood five feet and two-and-a-half inches, making him perfect for juvenile comedy roles. His comedies were popular with children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dell Henderson</span> Canadian-American actor, director, and writer

George Delbert "Dell" Henderson was a Canadian-American actor, director, and writer. He began his long and prolific film career in the early days of silent film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Gribbon</span> American actor and comedian (1885–1961)

Harry Peter Gribbon was an American film actor, comedian and director known for The Cameraman (1928), Show People (1928) and Art Trouble (1934). He appeared in more than 140 films between 1915 and 1938. Many of his films from this era have been lost.

<i>The Telephone Girl and the Lady</i> 1913 film

The Telephone Girl and the Lady is a 1913 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L-KO Kompany</span>

The L-KO Kompany, or L-KO Komedies, was an American motion picture company founded by Henry Lehrman that produced silent one-, two- and very occasionally three-reel comedy shorts between 1914 and 1919. The initials L-KO stand for "Lehrman KnockOut".

<i>A Sister of Six</i> (1916 film) 1916 film

A Sister of Six is a 1916 American silent Western film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. The film was directed by brothers Chester M. and Sidney Franklin. This was Bessie Love's first starring role.

<i>Hell-to-Pay Austin</i> 1916 silent film by Paul Powell

Hell-to-Pay Austin is a 1916 American silent comedy-drama film directed by Paul Powell and starring Wilfred Lucas in the title role, with Bessie Love, Eugene Pallette, and Mary Alden in supporting roles. Written by Mary H. O'Connor, the film was produced by D. W. Griffith's Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. It is presumed lost.

<i>Nina, the Flower Girl</i> 1917 silent film by Lloyd Ingraham

Nina, the Flower Girl is a lost American 1917 silent drama film produced by D. W. Griffith through his Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. The film starred Bessie Love, an up-and-coming ingenue actress. It also marked the final acting role for Elmer Clifton, who was by then moving on to directing full-time.

Charles Jacob Stine was an American silent film actor.

C. C. Field Film Company, also known as Field's Feature Film Company, was a short-lived film studio company in Miami, Florida. Construction of a studio for the company at South Miami Avenue at 25th Street began in 1915. It was headed by Charles C. Field who also established the Prismatic Film Company, its predecessor. Field relocated to Hollywood before returning to Florida in 1916. His partner took over and soon after the company ceased operations having produced only a few films. The studio building was later used by Tilford's studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louella Maxam</span> American actress

Louella Maxam was an American actress who performed in over 50 silent films from 1913 until 1921. She was often cast in comedies and Westerns, most notably being identified in 1915 as a "leading lady" in a series of shorts starring Tom Mix, who during the silent and early sound eras was promoted as the "Cowboy King of Hollywood". Later, she was a female lead in other films for various studios, including several productions featuring another early cowboy star, Franklyn Farnum. Following her departure from acting, Maxam worked in county and municipal government in California, including service with the Burbank police department, where in 1943 she was hired as that city's first "police woman".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armand Cortes</span> American actor (1880–1948)

Armand Cortes, sometimes credited as Armand Cortez, was an actor in theater and film in the United States. He had various theatrical roles in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

Frank Opperman (1861–1922) was an actor in American silent films. In 1916, he was reported to have had a 29-year career on stage and a 7-year film career. Between 1903 and 1907, Opperman appeared three times on Broadway, in Little Lord Fauntleroy, Cashel Byron, and an adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin.

References

  1. "Progressive Silent Film List: A Dash of Courage". Silent Era. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
  2. Shearer, Stephen Michael (2013). Gloria Swanson: The Ultimate Star. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN   9781250013668.
  3. Swanson, Gloria (1980). Swanson on Swanson . Random House. pp.  69–75. ISBN   0-394-50662-6.
  4. "A Dash of Courage". Moving Picture World. May 27, 1916. p. 1582.
  5. Louis Reeves Harrison (June 1916). "Triangle Program". Moving Picture World. p. 1708.
  6. Thomas C. Kennedy (June 3, 1916). "A Dash of Courage". Motography. p. 1281.