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The Celebrated Case
Also known as Convicted by His Own Child and Saved by His Own Child in the USA
(1910) United States of America
B&W : Two reels / 890 feet (part one)
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: (unknown)
Phoenix Film Company production; distributed by [?] Phoenix Film Company? / From the play Une cause célèbre by Adolphe Philippe Dennery and Eugène Cormon. / Released 13 January 1910 (part one, Convicted by His Own Child) and 20 January 1910 (part two, Saved by His Own Child). / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The original announced release dates were 6 January 1910 (part one) and 13 January 1910 (part two). The play was subsequently filmed as A Celebrated Case (1914).
Drama: Historical.
Synopsis: [The Moving Picture World, 8 January 1910, page ?] A small skirmishing party is seen engaged with the enemy. A nobleman endeavoring to pass the lines is mortally wounded and is seen to fall on the field. A ghoul of the battlefield stoops over the prostrate man and is about to rob him, when a soldier comes to the fallen man’s aid and drives the robber away. The dying man entrusts the soldier with jewels and family papers to deliver to his prescribed father, and at the same time gives the soldier a large purse of gold for himself. The soldier swears to carry out the dying man’s wishes, and taking a parting shot at the enemy, leaves the wounded nobleman, who falls back apparently dead. The robber returns and, finding that there are no valuables on the dead man, follows the soldier, evidently with the intent of securing the jewels and papers in his possession. The soldier stealthily visits his home, which is in the vicinity, and leaves the jewels and papers with his wife, telling her that in the event of his falling in the expected battle of the morrow, she should see that they were delivered as he directed. His little child is present and kisses her father good-night. The soldier leaves, taking an affectionate farewell of his wife, and with a few words of admonition, hurriedly leaves to rejoin his regiment. As the wife steps outside to say a few extra parting words to her husband, the robber who has followed the soldier enters the room through a window and tries to secure the valuables, which the wife had placed in a drawer and locked. The wife returns and is confronted by the robber, who demands the key. She refuses, and a struggle takes place between them. The child, who has been asleep in an adjoining room, cries aloud for her mother. The robber forces the mother to tell the child she is with her father. The child, reassured, is seen to return to her little bed. In the struggle that again takes place, the mother is wounded to the death, and the robber escapes with the box containing the money, paper and jewels. He has also taken with him a very valuable necklace belonging to the wife. This necklace has a locket attached to it. The locket opens with a secret spring and discloses the name of herself and child. The mother opens the door of the child’s room and tells her to run and bring help. When the neighbors enter, they find the wife upon the floor dying. She tries to tell them who has committed the deed, etc., but dies without doing so. The neighbors ask the child who was present, and the child innocently declares that it was her papa. On the following morning, the famous battle of Fontenoy having been fought and won, at the headquarters of the soldier’s regiment the Colonel emerges from his tent. He calls for the soldier, congratulates him for his bravery upon the battlefield, and extends his hand in doing so. The soldier is likewise congratulated by his comrades. The sentinel is seen to challenge a party approaching the tent. The party is allowed to pass and informs the Colonel of the robbery and more serious crime that has been done at the home of the soldier. He also informs the Colonel that the soldier himself is suspected of doing the deed. The Colonel resents the imputation, but sends for the soldier and tells him all. The soldier is overcome with horror. The Colonel asks him if he was at home the night before. The soldier reluctantly admits that he was. This fact itself, being absent from his regiment without leave in the presence of the enemy, is a serious military crime. He tries to explain the cause of his absence, but the Colonel will not listen to him, and orders the soldier’s child to be brought forward. Upon the child’s appearance, the soldier holds out his arms to her but both child and father are restrained by the officer. The Colonel questions the child and the little one answers that her mother said to her: ‘Hush, child, I am with your father.’ This horrifies the father and convinces the Colonel of the soldier’s guilt. The soldier is placed under arrest but begs the Colonel to allow him to kiss his little girl good-bye. The Colonel assents, and the child rushes to her father’s arms. The soldier caresses her. The child asks if she has done wrong and reminds her father that he always told her to speak the truth. The father tells her not to let her little heart blame itself. His last words to her are, ‘You have killed me, my poor child, but I love and I forgive you.’ Telling her not to forget these words, and asking his old comrade-in-arms to care for her, he is marched off to prison between a file of soldiers. The soldier is later tried by court martial, sentenced to be shot, but on account of his bravery in the recent battle, his sentence is commuted to twenty years in a military prison. The testimony of his own child convicted him. The sequel to the above thrilling story is shown in Part II of “The Celebrated Case,” entitled “Saved by His Own Child.”
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 15 January 1910, page ?] Through the testimony of his child a soldier is sentenced to penal servitude for a crime of which he is innocent. The attending circumstances are detailed in the first reel, which will be issued on January 13. The second reel, issued the following week, relates how the girl discovered the real criminal and set her father free. The story is one that possesses great dramatic possibilities and the two reels should be shown on consecutive weeks.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 5 April 2024.
References: MovPicWorld-19100108 p. 32 : Website-AFI.
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