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Mary’s Stratagem
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by [?] William F. Haddock?
Cast: Edith Storey [Mary], Francis Ford [Bill], William Clifford [the Indian chief]
G. Méliès production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Gaston Méliès. Cinematography by [?] William Paley? / Released 4 May 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Desdemona was not the only woman to have trouble over a handkerchief. It occurred to Mary also. Mary was in love with Bill, who worked on her father’s ranch, and was greatly admired by all the boys. Shorty returned from town one day with a fine checkered handkerchief, which he proudly placed about his neck, strutting in front of Bill to attract his notice. The handkerchief was almost loud enough to speak for itself, so Bill noticed it all right. One of the boys sneaked it from about Shorty’s neck and hung it on a nail, where Mary found it. Seeing that it was new, she placed it about her own comely neck, but alas, Othello Bill became jealous and accused her of accepting it from Shorty. High-spirited Mary did not deign to enlighten him, but went for a row on the river. She was captured by Indians and taken before the chief of the tribe, who was holding a big race that day. Mary had a brilliant idea and scornfully told the chief that his warriors did not know how to ride, and that she could beat them. The idea of the “pale face squaw” distancing his braves caused the old chief much merriment, and he arranged a race, with Mary mounted on his own steed. Mary finished first past the chief’s wigwam, but forgot to stop, and soon the entire tribe was after her in pursuit. In the meantime Bill had gone for a ride in the woods and found the fatal handkerchief, where it had fallen from Mary’s neck. He started back on the trail and reached her, and when they returned to the ranch, where Shorty had been bewailing his lost finery, the lovers’ quarrel was easily patched up.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 20 May 1911, page ?] We have in this film a Western picture that is different. Girls have been captured by Indians before, but it remained for this girl to challenge the chief's warriors to a race. On the chief’s horse, she rode to victory, but forgot to stop, and soon all the warriors in the tribe were after her. There was a little jealousy mixed up with the matter to begin with, a lover’s misunderstanding of the presence of a gaudy handkerchief. Only for this, Mary wouldn’t have been riding alone, and wouldn’t have been captured by the Indians. The disconsolate lover enters now and, while drinking from a spring finds Mary’s comb. He also finds her watch and has an opportunity to rescue Mary from the rushing horde of savages. Then Shorty, who really lost the handkerchief and was bemoaning his fate, is given his property; the lovers’ quarrel is patched up.
Survival status: Print exists in the Stiftung Deutsche Kinemathek film archive.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Animals: Horses - Native Americans - Races
Listing updated: 25 May 2024.
References: Thompson-Star pp. 31, 34, 183-184, 185, 230 : ClasIm-226 p. 55 : Website-IMDb.
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