Volume II: Filmography

CUPID AT THE CIRCUS

May 20, 1910 (Friday)

Length: 975 feet

Character: Drama

Cast: Frank H. Crane (Tom Gates grown up), Anna Rosemond (Lillie Lockwood grown up)

Location: The circus views were "by special arrangement with Messrs. Barnum and Bailey," according to a Thanhouser announcement.

Note: One trade account gives the film length as 940 feet.

ADVERTISEMENT, The Moving Picture World, May 21, 1910:

"Just in time for the circus craze! For kids from 7 to 70! A Thanhouser heart interest story that will make you feel like a kid again, snooping around the circus tent a watchin' for a handy hole through which to steal into the paradise within. It's a circus picture that will bring back the smell of the tanbark and sawdust to your nostrils and make you wish yourself back in the good old kid days."

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, May 21, 1910:

"Tom Wilk is a poor country lad, living alone with his stepfather, who ill-treats him. Tom leaves his work one day to follow a circus parade. He is fascinated with the wonders of the parade and follows it to the circus grounds, around which he stays all morning, and is finally tempted by his great wish to see the show, to crawl under the tent. He is discovered by a circus guard, and ordered off the ground. A small girl, Lillie Lockwood, and her father come to the circus, and witness Tom's ejection. Urged by his daughter, Lillie's father buys Tom a ticket of admission, giving him his first happy day. In return, Tom gives Lillie, as a keepsake, his most treasured possession, his pocket knife.

"On returning home, Tom is severely chastised by his step-father, after which he decides to run away. He walks to a neighboring town, and is there engaged as an office boy by Gates, a lawyer. After some years of faithful service, in various capacities, Tom becomes a member of the firm. Lillie obtains a position as a stenographer in their office. She and Tom do not recognize each other, until Tom accidentally sees in her hand the little knife he had given her in the long ago. He declares he had loved her through the years, and has been patiently waiting for her, so the romance that began at the circus finds a happy climax at the altar."

REVIEW, The Bioscope, December 22, 1910:

"Tom Wick [sic], a poor country lad, sees a circus bill being posted, and leaves his work to attend the parade. He is fascinated with the wonders of the parade, and follows to the circus grounds, and is finally ordered off. Mr. Lockwood, with his little daughter Lillie, witness the ejection. Urged by his daughter, Lillie's father buys Tom a ticket, and in return Tom gives Lillie his most treasured possession, his penknife. On returning home Tom is severely punished by his stepfather, and decides to run away. He walks to a neighboring town, and is engaged as office boy by Mr. Gates. Fifteen years after Tom is made partner. Mr. Gates engages Lillie as a typist. She and Tom do not recognize one another, until while dictating a letter the point of her pencil breaks. Bringing out her knife to sharpen it, Tom recognizes it as the one he gave away as a boy, and the film concludes with a happy wedding scene."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, May 22, 1910:

"This is a good clean story told in a pleasing manner. Photography is also very good. A young lad runs away from home. He sees the circus and tries to gain admission. He is fortunate to win the good graces of a little girl who is going with her father to see the circus performance. At her request the father also buys a ticket for the little fellow. He is so pleased that he gives the girl a pocket knife and other small trinkets as tokens of remembrance. In later years, the boy, now a young man, has advanced himself to partnership in a law firm. The girl of his childhood applies to his firm for a position as stenographer. When she sharpens her pencil with the knife she once received, he recognizes her as the one who pleaded for him with her father to take him to see the circus. All's well that ends well."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, June 4, 1910:

"A romantic picture, representing an unfortunate boy befriended by a little girl, and giving her his pocket knife as recompense. Years after, when he has become a successful man, the girl is engaged as stenographer by his firm. He discovers the knife, and the picture ends with a wedding not far away on the horizon. A pleasant story, enhanced by the picturesque surroundings of a circus and the exhilaration which comes of seeing a boy succeed against great odds."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, May 28, 1910:

"This company continues to produce pictures that are of commendable quality, this film being a novelty in the way of circus scenes that are introduced, and having at the same time a rather interesting love story to tell. In the early scenes we see a boy running away from the farm to go to the circus, and a girl induces her father to buy a ticket for him, for which he gratefully gives her his pocketknife. The boy plays too strongly to the camera, a fault that he is learning rather early in his acting career. After numerous interesting circus scenes we are told that ten years have elapsed. The boy has found work with a lawyer, and has been admitted to partnership. The girl, now grown up, is employed as a stenographer, and the two recognize each other, when she sharpens her pencil with the knife he gave her years before. Result: engagement."

REVIEW, The Nickelodeon, June 1, 1910:

"One of the prettiest romances in moving pictures. The boy stealing into the circus is caught and ejected, whereat the little girl prevails on her father to buy him a ticket. To show his appreciation he gives his benefactors every boy's greatest treasure, his pocketknife, which in later years becomes a means of identity, by which to renew their childhood friendship. Photography, staging and acting are up to their regular Thanhouser standard."

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