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Winning a Widow
(1909) United States of America
B&W : Split-reel / 450 feet
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: (unknown)
The Selig Polyscope Company, Incorporated, production; distributed by The Selig Polyscope Company, Incorporated. / Produced by William N. Selig. / Released 30 August 1909; in a split-reel with Mrs. Jones’ Birthday (1909). / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Herman Winkle, a tailor, is a bachelor whose nephew, Tom, is in his employ. Benjamin Smart, the keeper of a candy store, is also a bachelor, whose niece, Edna, helps him in his store. Winkle and Smart have their places in the same block and are friends, although have become smitten by a captivating widow, Mrs. Dasher. Tom and Edna, seeing much of each other, have fallen in love. The opening scene of the picture shows them seated in a rustic nook “spooning.” Edna’s uncle comes suddenly upon them and objects to their love-making, insisting upon Edna’s accompanying him and leaving Tom to his thoughts. Smart sends Winkle a note acquainting him of the spooning he has observed and his objection because of their youth; to all of which Winkle agrees, and calls upon Smart, assuring him that he thoroughly agrees with him. Soon Mrs. Dasher, the widow, strolls by, and is greeted warmly by Smart and presented with a box of bonbons by him. This his niece observes. Later the widow shows it to Winkle, whom she meets as she passes his store, and Winkle realizes he has a rival. He asks permission to call upon her that afternoon at three, to which she consents. Tom, overhearing it, writes a note to Smart asking him to call that day at three p.m., and signs Mrs. Dasher’s name to it. It is delivered to him by Edna, his niece. Winkle and Smart are soon off to the florist, where they purchase bouquets on the quiet and hasten to the widow’s home, followed unobserved by Tom and Edna. Winkle, having arrived first, is declaring his love, when Smart appears with the note, which the widow denies having written. Smart is forced to retire and Winkle obtains her consent to his proposal, and is greatly elated, much to the discomfiture of Mr. Smart. Tom and Edna having observed all this, obtain an infant from a nurse girl and leave it in front of the widow’s cottage. Tom writes on a card: “H. Winkle, receive your child from its deserted mother.” This he pins to the baby’s clothing. The infant is found by the widow and the card discovered and read by Smart. Winkle, unconscious of anything, appears and is denounced for his perfidy and deceit. Winkle, dumbfounded and crestfallen, rushes from the indignation of Mrs. Dasher. At this turn of events Smart feels there is a chance for him, and taunts Winkle with being a married man. Winkle, while pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket to wipe his troubled brow, drops his pocketbook, which Tom, who appears at that moment, picks up, and, unseen by either of the men, slips into Smart’s pocket. Turning to his uncle, he asks if he has lost anything, and Winkle, upon finding his pocketbook gone, is told by Tom that Smart has it. Whereupon Winkle accuses Smart of having stolen it. The widow appears in time to bear the accusation. Smart says, “Search me.” It is done and the pocketbook found, much to his surprise and that of Mrs. Dasher, also. Winkle calls Smart a thief, which so angers him that he knocks Winkle down, and in his indignation tears the collar and shirt from him, and, rushing through the shrubbery, he waves them aloft in his anger and finally stamps them under his feet. With Tom’s help, Winkle recovers his shirt and makes himself presentable. Smart, still feeling the sting of Winkle’s accusation, is out for satisfaction. He finds Winkle trying to catch his second wind, as it were, and charges him at the point of a pistol with having placed the pocketbook in his (Smart’s) pocket himself. He threatens to blow the top of Winkle’s head off with a revolver which has no chamber in it; but Smart makes a good bluff with it and Winkle knows nothing different until he secures it and threatens Smart. Mrs. Dasher, fearing a serious turn of affairs, comes upon them. The nurse with the empty baby carriage follows in quest of the infant, and Tom and Edna, who have been looking for her, return the child. The nurse, after declaring that Winkle is not the father, goes on her way with an easy mind. Tom then admits that he, with Edna’s help, is the culprit; that he signed Mrs. Dasher’s name to the note, that be pinned the card to the child's clothing and placed the pocketbook in Smart’s pocket, all because both uncles opposed his attachment and Edna’s for each other. The widow intercedes in their behalf and the young folks are made happy, while she willingly nestles in Winkle’s arms and Smart is left to go back to his store and his candies.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 13 September 2023.
References: Edmonds-Arbuckle p. 244; Lahue-Selig pp. 28, 30-31 : Website-IMDb.
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