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When the Tables Turned
Also known as {When the Table Turned}
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by William F. Haddock
Cast: Edith Storey [Ethel Kirby], Francis Ford [the instigating cowboy], Ben Cooper [a cowboy], Eleanor Blanchard [Mrs. Burton, Ethel’s aunt], Otto Meyer, [?] ? [Florence Halley]
G. Méliès production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Gaston Méliès. Cinematography by [?] William Paley? / Released 15 June 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The production was shot near San Antonio, Texas.
Comedy: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? After a strenuous season on the road, Ethel Kirby, a popular actress, was bored to death with New York, its lights, music and restaurants. So she decided to get away from it all and have a good rest. Being of a slightly superstitious and decidedly feminine mind, and having enough money to consult her own tastes, she decided to leave the location of her vacation to chance. She closed her eyes, stuck a hat pin in the map of the United States and discovered that her choice fell upon the little town of Lariet, in Texas. So to Lariet she went. Now it happened that Florence Halley had written a note to her aunt, Mrs. Burton, in Lariet, saying that she was coming to pay a visit and disparaging the cowboys in the neighborhood as being rather tame affairs. Mrs. Burton, dearly loving a joke, had told the boys and they were prepared to give Miss Halley a warm welcome. Miss Halley, the niece, and Miss Kirby, the actress, met in the dining-car of the train, and were soon good friends. At a wayside stop they got off to walk a bit, and Miss Halley was left. Miss Kirby arrived in Lariet alone and was held up and kidnapped by the boys, who thought that she was Mrs. Burton’s niece. After frightening her badly, they locked her in a deserted house, took off their masks and prepared to make themselves known, but by this time the actress had discovered the trick played upon her and resolved to turn the tables by assuming to be mad. Her plan worked to perfection and she had the frightened cowboys doing all kinds of stunts while she held them up with a revolver. From this predicament they were rescued by the real niece, who arrived on a later train, and it was a very crest-fallen lot which was finally introduced to the little actress, whose dramatic powers they had learned to respect.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 1 July 1911, page ?] This film has all the qualities that make a successful picture. If punchers take umbrage at a letter from a young lady who has merely read of cowboys, they are more sensitive than they should be. We can sympathize, however, with their making up a plan to surprise the young lady. The picture from this point on, when they capture the great actress who, to fool them, first plays that she is mad and then holds them up for all the queer tricks and foolish stunts they have in them, hopping, skipping, playing they are a brass band, and all, is simply rich. That doesn’t exhaust what comedy is in the situation either, for when the other young lady arrives and the boys come to the pink tea, there is more fun. It took a true comedian to put a cup of tea in his pocket from embarrassment.
Survival status: Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive (Dorothy M. Tayler collection) [incomplete 35mm psoitive]; and in the University of Southern California Hugh M. Hefner Foundation Moving Image Archive (Christopher Bird collection) [incomplete 35mm positive].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Actresses - Animals: Horses - Cowboys - Rescues - USA: Texas
Listing updated: 27 July 2024.
References: Film viewing : Thompson-Star pp. 32, 201-202, 230 : ClasIm-226 p. 55 : Website-IMDb.
Home video: Blu-ray Disc.
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