The Barnstormer in the Photoplay
The Barnstormer in the Photoplay is an American silent movie released in 1910. Black & White.
Survival status: unknown.
Cast
- Sherlock Carter : unknown
- Nick Holmes : unknown
Plot summary
- The Moving Picture World, 12 november 1910, p. 1011
Hush! Curses! S'death! I saw a melodrama Monday at the Fourteenth Street Theater, and the tales we boys used to read, "Searcheck, the Wild Half-breed," or "Ruddy-thumb, the Red-handed Avenger of the Mam," were not in it with this photoplay. It went this way:
Enter society villain, dress suit and all. He approaches a New York mansion, accompanied by two ruffians. The ruffians secrete themselves at either side of the brown-stone entrance steps, where the servants and others going in and out of the basement never look. The classy villain mounts the steps, rings and is admitted. He really lives in the rag-picker's hovel, but he must have the Danver's jewels These villains get into New York society without any trouble. Social aspirants from out of town should study thus play. Simply mount the steps, rog the bell and walk in Now we get a glimpse of high society, and it is the real thing. It walks around aimlessly and looks as though it had on the best stave money could purchase, thaws it is somewhat nervous and awkward in such unaccustomed finery. Arch villain enters, bows as though he was ducking his head over a plate of soup and kisses each lady's hand. Then he looks around. The way he rolls his eyes would make you shiver. They are perfectly awful. The reason he rolls those fierce eyes is because the villainess is there. He shoots a wireless message at her out of those dreadful eyes. She understands. He must have the Danver's jewels. She gives him a meaning look. The decollete adventuress is also from that finishing school for high society, the rag-picker's hovel. She goes out and comes right back with the jewels. They were left in some handy place. The moment I saw how easy it was, I made up my mind to try it. But how was the villain to get away with the loot? Now you commence to study out how you would do it and you begin to grasp the villain's wonderful foresight in bringing the two ruffians. He puts the jewels in a bag and goes to the window. Outside, the two ruffians are Johnnies on the spot. They are waiting for the swag. Inside, the villain leans on the window sill which the housemaid forgot to dust. They show you the dust on his sleeve in a big picture. Perhaps you don't understand, but, right there, while he was dropping the swag out to his pals, when he leaned his elbow on the sill, he made the mistake of his life. The loss of the jewels is discovered. The villain looks as innocent as the colored boy who said, "I hain't seen yer chickens," but Papa Danver telephones to police headquarters. The police moved so quickly that I suspected the operator of whirling the reel. Two detectives appear at the house, Sherlock Carter and Nick Holmes. Sherlock Carter, the handsome guy, is given a dress suit by Papa Danver, and it fits the detective as though it was made for him, then he is introduced to the guests. The very first thing he notices is the dust on the sleeve. That is enough for him. Any man with dust on his sleeve is a villain at heart. Although Sherlock Carter has all the evidence needed to indicate who stole the jewels, he bides his time. After the ball is over, the villain leaves the mansion unsearched and hands the adventuress into a cab. The moment he gets in, the two detectives hold up the cabby and make him change clothes with Sherlock Carter. Why this act of daring, right there in the street? Because Sherlock Carter knows that the undusted villain must have had accomplices, and he must trace the Danver's jewels to the den of thieves. We are transported to the rag-picker's den. What a tough bunch, all but the rag-picker's beautiful daughter! I couldn't help feeling sorry for her. In spite of unfavorable environment and hereditary tendencies of doubtful value, the rag-picker's daughter was a true-hearted girl. The gang welcomes the society thief and the elegant adventuress, then they step aside to let the detective slip in and hide behind a barrel. That foolhardy act comes near costing him his life. The moment the jewels are shown, he steps forth with two guns and tries to point them at a half dozen people at the same time. Bing! Some fellow gives it to him in the back. Down he goes, and they sew him up in a sack. Then the villain and the ruffians and the adventuress and the rag-picker step out to give the beautiful daughter a chance to do her noble act. She releases Sherlock Carter, then, instead of beating it, she feels that she owes a duty to the homicidal gang. She gets in the sack and the man she has saved sews her up in it. Could anything be more noble? By Jimminy, when you think of the sacrifices women make for men they never saw before in their lives, you cannot wonder that we call them "angel eyes" and "lovey dovey." The gang carries her to the river and swing the bag once. Great heavens! Supposing that one of them, by mere accident, should let his hand slip! It would be all over with the rag-picker's beautiful daughter. The water is real. They swing her two times. We know the next will be the last. What is that tool of a detective doing all this time? Ah! At last! He shows a little common sense. He summons the police. The ruffians are about to make the third swing, the get just about as far as "th—" when, hooray, hooray, the police arrive in the nick of time, save the girl, capture the gang and recover the jewels. Sherlock Carter docs not claim any reward when he returns the Danver's jewels. Ile has his reward. Can't you guess? Why, he marries the beautiful rag-picker's, or the rag-picker's beautiful, daughter. As soon as ] finish this article, I am going down among the rag-pickers and see if there are any more. I would like to have one just the same as that.
The melodrama was all right because it did not pretend to be anything else. We go to the auto races, not to gaze upon mangled forms and bloody faces, but because we like to see something really dreadful nearly happen. That feeling of suspense where danger threatens takes hundreds of thousands to watch men fly in the air. I honestly preferred that energetic melodrama to half-efforts shown in some of the higher plays, where the incidents are shown and the soul of the piece totally lost.
