An Elusive Diamond

An Elusive Diamond

(One reel of 1,002 feet, January 23, 1914)
Print source: British Film Institute, 15 minutes 27 seconds.
Scenario by Lloyd F. Lonergan. Cast: David H. Thompson (the butler), Carey L. Hastings (Mrs. Burr), Mignon Anderson (Bettina), William Noel (hoodlum).
Original music composed and performed by Raymond A. Brubacher.

A one-reel crime drama with crooks, ruses, kidnapping, escape, and a twist, all wrapped in a coherent narrative.

Screenwriter Lonergan’s amazing versatility served equally well in several genres. There is successful pictorial telling of the setup and attempted theft, and a little cross-cutting as the police come to the rescue (rescue of the rock, as the resourceful heroine obviously needs no rescuing).

Thanhouser’s popular Mignon Anderson’s climactic stunt work shows that the stock players were remarkably versatile.

“An” Elusive Diamond was the official title despite the “The” of this surviving print.