Plot
Described as "being another of 'Kate Kirby's Cases', a series of detective stories", the plot summary in The Edison Kinetogram was: [4]
Philip Morton, on the eve of his marriage to Alice Osborn, discovers that he is about to make a terrible mistake, since he loves her sister, Marguerite, more than his bride-to-be. The realization of what he is about to do comes upon him with tragic force, when he meets Marguerite in the hall a scant hour before the ceremony. He declares that he cannot go through with it, that it is all wrong. Marguerite, deeply moved, breaks down momentarily, but, hearing her sister's voice, she commands Morton to go where his honor calls him. Later, seated on a lounge above the great stairway, Marguerite writes a letter to Morton, telling him that despite her great love for him, her little sister's happiness must have the first consideration. Alarmed by somebody approaching, she hides the letter in a portfolio which she tucks behind the lounge.
To the brilliantly apparelled guests awaiting the commencement of the ceremony in a drawing room, a maid suddenly appears with ghastly news. Alice Osborn is lying dead on the great staircase with a knife driven into her back.
Owing to the prominence of the case, the chief of police takes Charge of it himself. With Kate Kirby and a host of policemen, he arrives at the Osborn home, and institutes a rigid inquiry. Kate discovers the letter in Marguerite's portmanteau, and this, coupled with the significant fact that the knife with which the girl was killed is Morton's, leads to the immediate arrest of the suspected man. In a vigorous third degree, the Chief attempts to get incriminating evidence for Marguerite, finally leaving her apparently alone with Morton in the hope that he will convict himself in her presence. However, Morton does nothing but protests his innocence to the anxious girl and the chief finds himself in a deadlock. Meanwhile, Kate Kirby, on the advice of her father, has been searching for finger prints on the lounge above the staircase. Near the edge of the banisters, she finds a slight mark, and immediately her keen mind solves the entire mystery.
Frankenstein is a 1910 American short silent horror film produced by Edison Studios. It was directed by J. Searle Dawley, who also wrote the one-reeler's screenplay, broadly basing his "scenario" on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. This short motion picture is generally recognized by film historians as the first screen adaptation of Shelley's work. The small cast, who are not credited in the surviving 1910 print of the film, includes Augustus Phillips as Dr. Frankenstein, Charles Ogle as Frankenstein's monster, and Mary Fuller as the doctor's fiancée.
Bess Meredyth was a screenwriter and silent film actress. The wife of film director Michael Curtiz, Meredyth wrote The Affairs of Cellini (1934) and adapted The Unsuspected (1947). She was one of the 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The Edison Manufacturing Company, originally registered as the United Edison Manufacturing Company and often known as simply the Edison Company, was organized by inventor and entrepreneur Thomas Edison and incorporated in New York City in May 1889. It succeeded the Edison United Manufacturing Company, founded in 1886 as a sales agency for the Edison Lamp Company, Edison Machine Works, and Bergmann & Company, which made electric lighting fixtures, sockets, and other accessories. In April 1894, the Edison laboratory's Kinetoscope operation, which was about to be commercialized, was brought under the Edison Company umbrella. In 1900, the United Edison Manufacturing Company was evidently succeeded by the New Jersey–incorporated Edison Manufacturing Company. The company's assets and operations were transferred to Thomas A. Edison, Inc. in 1911.
James Searle Dawley was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, stage actor, and playwright. Between 1907 and the mid-1920s, while working for Edison, Rex Motion Picture Company, Famous Players, Fox, and other studios, he directed more than 300 short films and 56 features, which include many of the early releases of stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Pearl White, Marguerite Clark, Harold Lloyd, and John Barrymore. He also wrote scenarios for many of his productions, including one for his 1910 horror film Frankenstein, the earliest known screen adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel. While film direction and screenwriting comprised the bulk of Dawley's career, he also had earlier working experience in theater, performing on stage for more than a decade and managing every aspect of stagecraft. Dawley wrote at least 18 plays as well for repertory companies and for several Broadway productions.
Claire McDowell was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in 350 films between 1908 and 1945.
Laura Sawyer was an American film actress on stage and in silent films.
The Charge of the Light Brigade is a 1912 American silent historical drama film directed by J. Searle Dawley. Produced by Edison Studios, the film portrays the disastrous yet inspiring military attack in October 1854 by British light cavalry against Russian artillery positions in the Battle of Balaclava during the Crimean War. Director Dawley also wrote the scenario for this production, adapting it in part from the famous 1854 narrative poem about the charge by British poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who completed his poem just six weeks after the actual event. The film's action scenes and landscape footage were shot between late August and early September 1912, while Dawley and his company of players and crew were on location in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In order to produce a sizable and believable recreation of the charge, the director needed a very large number of horsemen. Fortunately for Dawley, the commander of United States Army cavalry at Fort D. A. Russell at Cheyenne agreed to provide "about 800" troopers and "their trained mounts" to the Edison project.
Bessie Learn was an American actress who appeared in 86 films between 1911 and 1919.
Batwoman is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Kane is a wealthy heiress who becomes inspired by the superhero Batman and chooses, like him, to put her wealth and resources toward a campaign to fight crime as a masked vigilante in her home of Gotham City as Batwoman.
Harold Marvin Shaw was an American stage performer, film actor, screenwriter, and notable director of the silent era. A native of Tennessee, he worked professionally in theatrical plays and vaudeville for 16 years before he began acting in motion pictures for Edison Studios in New York City in 1910 and then started regularly directing shorts there two years later. Shaw next served briefly as a director for Independent Moving Pictures (IMP) in New York before moving to England in May 1913 to be "chief producer" for the newly established London Film Company. During World War I, he relocated to South Africa, where in 1916 he directed the film De Voortrekkers in cooperation with African Film Productions, Limited. Shaw also established his own production company while in South Africa, completing there two more releases, The Rose of Rhodesia in 1918 and the comedy Thoroughbreds All in 1919. After directing films once again in England under contract with Stoll Pictures, he finally returned to the United States in 1922 and later directed several screen projects for Metro Pictures in California before his death in Los Angeles in 1926. During his 15-year film career, Shaw worked on more than 125 films either as a director, actor, or screenwriter.
Over the Garden Wall is a lost 1919 American silent romantic comedy film produced and distributed by the Vitagraph Company of America. It was directed by David Smith, brother of one of the Vitagraph founders Albert E. Smith. The film stars Bessie Love.
Jackson Bigelow Cooper was an American stage and screen character actor prominent in the silent film era.
Chelsea 7750 is a surviving 1913 American silent crime drama film directed by J. Searle Dawley and starring Henry E. Dixey, Laura Sawyer, and House Peters. It was the fourth of six "Kate Kirby's Cases" detective stories made in 1913, the first produced by the Famous Players Film Company after Dawley and Sawyer left Edison for Famous Players.
An Hour Before Dawn is a lost 1913 silent film detective drama directed by J. Searle Dawley and starring Laura Sawyer and House Peters. It was the fifth of six "Kate Kirby's Cases" detective stories made in 1913, the second produced by the Famous Players Film Company after Dawley and Sawyer left Edison for Famous Players.
The Port of Doom is a lost 1913 silent film detective drama directed by J. Searle Dawley and featuring Laura Sawyer and House Peters. It was the last of six "Kate Kirby's Cases" detective stories made in 1913, the third produced by the Famous Players Film Company after Dawley and Sawyer left Edison for Famous Players.
Justina Huff was an American actress of the silent film era.
The Diamond Crown, from Edison Studios, was a 1913 American silent film (short) written and directed by J. Searle Dawley. It was the first of three "Kate Kirby's Cases" detective stories made in 1913 for Edison before Dawley and actress Laura Sawyer left Edison for Famous Players Film Co. later that year, where they produced three more. This film was also Justina Huff's debut in motion pictures. The Diamond Crown was released in the United States on July 12, 1913. This film is considered lost.
The Substitute Stenographer, from Edison Studios, was a 1913 American silent film (short) directed by Walter Edwin The film was the third of three "Kate Kirby's Cases" detective tales produced with Edison in 1913 before actress Laura Sawyer left Edison to continue the series later that year with the Famous Players Film Company and the director of the other five films, J. Searle Dawley. It was released in the United States on 4 August 1913.
The Battle of Trafalgar is a lost 1911 American silent docudrama film that portrayed the 1805 victory of Great Britain’s Royal Navy over the combined naval forces of France and Spain during the Napoleonic Wars. The death of British Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson in that decisive sea battle was also depicted in this "one-reeler", which was directed by J. Searle Dawley and produced by Thomas A. Edison, Inc. The film starred Sydney Booth with Herbert Prior, James Gordon, Charles Ogle, and Laura Sawyer in supporting roles.
For Valour is a 1912 silent American short film made by the Edison Manufacturing Company. It stars Laura Sawyer, Richard R. Neill, Ben Wilson, and James Gordon. It is based on the short story of the same name by Talbot Mundy. It was directed by J. Searle Dawley.
