Volume II: Filmography

THE MERMAID

July 29, 1910 (Friday)

Length: 1,000 feet

Character: Comedy

Cast: Violet Heming (Ethel, the mermaid), Frank H. Crane (John Gary, Ethel's father, the hotel owner), Marie Eline

ADVERTISEMENT, The New York Dramatic Mirror, July 30, 1910:

"A great seashore subject especially designed for summer release in which is depicted the corking good scheme a clever hotelkeeper employed to bring vacationists his way. How well it worked and how queerly it resulted is the story the picture tells and it's funny enough to make you yell!"

SYNOPSIS, The Moving Picture World, July 30, 1910:

"John Gary runs a summer hotel at a charming spot on the seashore, but he has been unable to induce people to stop there, and at the opening of the picture he is seen lamenting the fact that there is not a single guest name on his hotel register. At this juncture his daughter Ethel returns from school. Ethel is an expert swimmer, and on reading in the paper the rumor that a mermaid has made several appearances in the water of the Atlantic, he decides to have his daughter pose as the mysterious lady of the sea. He wisely conjectures that a handy mermaid will bring guests.

"With Ethel clad in appropriate costume, and seated upon the rocks in true mermaid fashion, her father persuades the reporter of the local paper to take a look at the phenomenon. The newspaper man is greatly impressed with the spectacle and obtains a photo of the mermaid, which he publishes. The mermaid gains wide publicity - and vacationists arrive from near and far to see her. Tom, Dick and Harry, a trio of city sports, jump into bathing suits and the water, each bent on capturing the mermaid. She eludes them all, however, and the mystery is not cleared up until Ethel, in a pre-tailored suit, presents herself to the guests and explains the joke. By this time Gary's hotel is famous and the owner is certain of a big summer business."

REVIEW, The Morning Telegraph, July 31, 1910:

"This is a novel way of a hotel advertising for business. A hotelkeeper, who, finding business dull, has his daughter swim out from the beach of his hotel to rocks beyond. He then secures newspaper publicity that a mermaid is combing her hair in front of his hotel. Crowds now register at the hotel. Three young men try to capture the mermaid, but she gets away from them. Later the owner of the hotel puts up a sign that the mermaid is stopping at the hotel. The story is a good one and the action toes the mark. In one scene, however, the newspaper man takes a photograph with a pocket camera of the mermaid, which he publishes in his paper. It seems hardly possible that the newspaper photographer would have used such a camera, nor could he get such a good photograph at the distance from which he snapped the picture."

REVIEW, The Moving Picture World, August 13, 1910:

"How a fake mermaid advertised a summer hotel is humorously told in this picture. As an illustration of a bit of human nature it is a success and apparently accomplishes its purpose. At the close the hotel is filled with guests, while at first it was empty. Not until the fake mermaid appears in a tailored suit and explains the joke is the mystery solved. As a lively scene from contemporary life the picture is a success."

REVIEW, The New York Dramatic Mirror, August 6, 1910:

"The fanciful theme of this film is quite new, and the narrative is developed with as much plausibility as the plot allows. To revive business at her father's seaside hotel, a schoolgirl ingeniously poses as a mermaid, gets her picture in the Sunday papers, and entices a tide of guests to the hotel. Three young men attempt to capture her, but she eludes them until she returns to the hotel. When they all fall at her feet, she distributes her favors impartially. There are a few absurdities in the action. For instance, the photographer never once sighted his camera nor glanced at the finder to see if it was really pointed at the mermaid. Secondly, the resulting photographs could never have been taken at the distance indicated in the film. Thirdly, the one office boy in the hotel could never have disposed of the arriving guests with such speed. A film ought to be consistent at any rate."

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