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A Telegraphic Tangle
(1916) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Sidney Drew
Cast: Sidney Drew [John Smithers], Mrs. Sidney Drew [Mrs. John Smithers]
The Vitagraph Company of America production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Maude Banner. / Released 21 January 1916. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Mr. and Mrs. John Smithers have been married nearly six months and Mrs. John still nourishes the idea that her hubby is a paragon of virtue. John and his wife are to attend a lecture one night, but he meets a bunch of old college friends and renews acquaintance with mixed drinks and stacks of chips. Finding navigating extremely difficult, he spends the night in a hotel with the boys. Next morning, when John does not show up, Mrs. Smithers, fearing some dire calamity has overtaken her hubby, anxiously calls up four of John’s most intimate friends. The inquiries, “Did John spend the night with you?” brings forth from each and every one of the “wise” ones the reply, “Yes.” Each friend thinks he has done John a great favor, but when the four friends meet John, and he learns what a mess they have made, he collapses completely. Of course Mrs. Smithers realizes the deception practiced upon her, and she goes to John’s office to demand an explanation. After a heartbreaking moment, one of the boys gets an idea, rushes out and brings in a traffic cop. He then “confesses” to Mrs. Smithers that all were arrested for speeding and spent the night together in jail. The cop is far-sighted and corroborates the story, which lets John out of that predicament nicely, but the cop calmly informs the boys he has been sent by the magistrate to collect the ten dollars fine which they promised to pay. All are broke, so John has to “dig down.” The cop and the boys depart jubilantly, leaving John with a throbbing head, a thin bankroll and his wife with her arms around his neck begging forgiveness for her unjust suspicions.
Survival status: Print exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 25 October 2024.
References: Website-IMDb.
Home video: Blu-ray Disc.
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