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Ildfluen
(The Firefly)
(1913) Denmark
B&W : [?] Four or Five? reels / 1325 metres
Directed by Einar Zangenberg
Cast: Johanne Fritz-Petersen Blom (Johanne Fritz-Petersen), Alfi Zangenberg, Einar Zangenberg, William Bewer, Sophus Erhardt, Ella La Cour, Richard Christensen, Emma Wiehe
Kinografen production; distributed by [?] Kinografen? / Released 18 August 1913. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film was released in the USA by Film Releases of America in November 1913.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Lilian, little daughter of Countess Barri, and Ralph, son of the estate manager, are playing in the groves when Michael, a wandering gypsy, comes upon them. The antics of his monkey amuse the children. They beg the Countess to accompany them to the gypsy camp to see Michael’s other pets. The Countess, angered when the gypsy’s wife abuses her sick child, orders the wayfarers from her grounds. At dawn Lilian, thinking of the fascinating monkey, climbs from her crib and runs to the camp. The gypsies abduct her, purposing to have her take the place of their own chick who has died in the night. In the morning sturdy little Ralph bravely comforts the bereaved mother and volunteers to find the missing child. He overtakes the gypsies. Ineffectually the children attempt to get back home. They are overtaken and brought back to a cruel beating. Years pass. The gypsies have been far abroad and Ralph has been unable to restore Lilian to her mother. Now that they are near their own hearthstone, Ralph quarrels with Michael and goes away after learning that Lilian, who has become a “star” performer, has been engaged to do a beautiful “Firefly” act with a circus. Lilian is a big success. Her beauty attracts an old Baron, with whom, coincidentally, Ralph has obtained a place as chauffeur. Michael “sells” Lilian to the Baron. The latter takes her out in his automobile. The Baron attempts to kiss Lilian. Ralph pretends that something has gone wrong with the automobile. When the Baron alights to investigate Ralph starts the machine, leaving the Baron in the lurch. Michael, knowing that Ralph will take Lilian to the home from which she had been stolen, proceeds after them with murder in his heart. He comes upon the overjoyed mother and daughter accompanied by Ralph at the top of an old tower in which the children played years before. Michael locks them in and lights the fuse of an infernal machine, which he places in a lower window of the tower. Ralph sees the dastardly deed and strives to open the locked door. Only one way is left. Climbing out upon old telegraph wires which pass over a pond, he makes the perilous passage and drops, unhurt, into the water. The terrified watchers see him reach the infernal machine just a moment before its fuse ignites with the dynamite. Ralph throws it from him blindly. It falls into the bushes, wherein Michael has hidden himself. Michael is killed by his own petard.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 11 October 1913, page ?] This is a four-part picture made by the Kinograf Company. There are sensational scenes in it, but it would have made a stronger feature had it been shorter. There are improbabilities and inconsistencies. The boy grown to manhood under the domination of the gypsy obtains employment as a chauffeur when nothing has indicated that he had ever seen a machine. Later, he takes back to her old home the daughter of the countess, kidnapped twelve years before, which proves he knew how to find it and consequently could have done it at any time during these years. The dropping of the letter of proposal at the feet of the chauffeur was hackneyed. Ralph’s escape from the tower of the castle, his sensational climb over the wires to drop then into the water, and his long swim back to extinguish the burning fuse attached to the bomb necessarily required far more time than would have been required to consume one foot of slow match. On the other hand, the “firefly” scene in the theater was finely done. The tinting from one color to another as the woman swung in the air. suspended by a wire, made an unusual spectacle. The photography is of high quality.
Survival status: Print exists [incomplete (approximately 960 metres)].
Current rights holder: (unknown) [Denmark]; Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 7 November 2022.
References: Mottram-Danish p. 107 : Website-IMDb.
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