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A Necklace of Crushed Rose Leaves
(1912) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by J. Searle Dawley
Cast: Ben Wilson [Tony], Laura Sawyer [Zella], Jessie McAllister [one of the girls], Ethel Jewett [one of the girls], Charles Sutton [the priest], James Gordon [Gaspard, the locksmith]
Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated, production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Released 19 July 1912. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? We are first introduced to the principal of the drama at an Italian dance. Prominent among the merry makers is one by the name of Tony, a wild, free-hearted lad, who is in love with all the girls and they with him. The deep passion of life, however, has never entered into his thoughts as most of these girls take his jollity lightly and a kiss as a kiss and nothing mote, and thus he goes on his merry way until he meets one by the name of Zella, and when he tries to kiss her, it is tin insult and he receives a box on the ears that makes him think. Here is something different: the inevitable happens and he falls deeply, fondly, devotedly in love with her. Her slightest wish is his greatest desire to grant, so when he chances to hear her tell of a rare necklace of crushed rose leaves she has been shown at the priest’s house, his only desire is to secure her one, but none is to be had except that which lies hidden in the little, ancient chest at the priest’s home. So, regardless of all consequences, he steals the steel-bound chest and takes it to a locksmith to open. Now it so happens that this same locksmith is in love with a dark-eyed lassie who loves Tony. It is here that all the trouble begins. Word is passed from mouth to mouth and at last Zella hears that Tony is the thief. Torn by anguish and love she decides to secure the chest and return it to the priest to save the man she loves, but the sequence of affairs turns out differently for, in securing the chest at night, she is shot and seriously wounded. She crawls, however, to the home of the good priest, and returns the chest, and is cared for by him, being almost on the point of death. At last Tony realizes all that has happened and humbly goes to the priest for forgiveness and consolation. Through evil he learns good and the picture closes at the foot of the altar with a prayer to God for His forgiveness.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 3 August 1912, page ?] An Italian story in which Tony, in order to obtain for his sweetheart a necklace she admired, steals one from the priest instead of buying one. The locksmith, a rival of Tony for the hand of the same girl, obtains possession of the box as compensation for unlocking it, together with its contents. The locksmith refuses to give it up when Tony repents his action and tries to get back the jewel box. Gaspard refuses to give it up. The girl, portrayed by Laura Sawyer, enters the shop and takes the box while the two men are in the cellar. She is shot by Gaspard as she is escaping, but manages to crawl to the priest, who cares for her. Tony goes to the priest for forgiveness and consolation. It is a pretty story, well staged.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 4 June 2024.
References: Pratt-Spellbound p. ? : Website-IMDb.
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