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In Little Italy
(1909) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 956 feet
Directed by D.W. Griffith
Cast: Marion Leonard [Marie Cadrona], George O. Nicholls [Tony Guilletto], Henry B. Walthall [Victor Ratazzi], James Kirkwood [the sheriff], Frank Evans [a deputy], Gladys Egan [a child], Anthony O’Sullivan [a peddler], W. Chrystie Miller [a man in the bar], William J. Butler [a man in the bar], [?] J. Waltham? [a man in the bar], Mack Sennett [a man in the bar; and an attendee at the ball], Kate Bruce [an attendee at the ball], Charles Craig [an attendee at the ball], Ruth Hart [an attendee at the ball], Henry Lehrman [an attendee at the ball], Jeanie Macpherson [an attendee at the ball], Owen Moore [an attendee at the ball], William A. Quirk (Billy Quirk) [an attendee at the ball], Gertrude Robinson [an attendee at the ball], Blanche Sweet [an attendee at the ball], Dorothy West [an attendee at the ball], [?] Guy Hedlund? [an attendee at the ball], [?] Stephanie Longfellow? [an attendee at the ball], [?] Charles Arling?, [?] Adele DeGarde?, [?] Marion Sunshine?
Biograph Company production; distributed by Biograph Company. / Scenario by [?] Frank E. Woods? Cinematography by G.W. Bitzer. / © 29 December 1909 by Biograph Company [J136491]. Released 23 December 1909. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / [?] Sunshine’s appearance in the cast is highly suspect.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Marie Cadrona, a widowed mother of two small children, is sought in marriage by Victor Ratazzi, a barber, and Tony Guilletto, a laborer. Marie rejects Tony’s suit, but hearkens to the love songs of Victor, who serenades the pretty widow accompanied by the accordion. Tony, upon learning of Victor’s acceptance, is determined to be revenged. He decides to wait, surprise him and strike him down. Several times the opportunity seems to present itself, but just as the fatal blow is about to be given someone appears on the scene to prevent it. Meanwhile, Victor is totally ignorant of the threatening danger, for Tony plays well the serpent. An Italian ball is held, and Victor escorts Marie there. Tony is present and feels now is his chance. Victor and Marie are dancing and as they pass Tony, Victor drops from a stab wound in the side, of course inflicted by Tony, who gets away unnoticed. The next morning he visits the corner saloon with an expression of satisfaction on his countenance only to learn that his deed was not fatal, and his victim is being cared for at the home of the widow. Enraged beyond measure, he makes his way to her house and tries to get into the room where Victor lies on a cot, wounded. The door being barricaded, he tries to effect an entrance through the window, but a portable cupboard placed in front prevents him, so kicking in the cellar door he climbs up a ladder to a trap in the floor; on this trap the widow places a heavy trunk and she and one of the children sit on it to increase the weight, while she dispatches the other child for the constable. Tony soon overcomes this resistance and forcing his way through the trap is just about to finish the destruction of Victor, when a well-directed shot from the constable’s gun, who has just arrived, causes the stiletto to fall from his hand. Tony is taken into custody, and Marie, unmolested, attends Victor, looking forward to the day when he will be well enough to make her his wife.
Survival status: Prints exist in the Museum of Modern Art film archive [35mm nitrate negative]; and in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive, 16mm reduction positive].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 28 April 2023.
References: Barry-Griffith p. 42; Bondanella-Hollywood p. 21; Spehr-American p. 2; Usai-Griffith-3 pp. 146-147 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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