''The Evidence of the Film'' is a 1913 American silent

short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Lawrence Marston Lawrence Marston (June 8, 1857 – February 1, 1939) was an American actor, playwright, producer, stage director and film director. Biography Marston was born to a Jews, Jewish family in Hammerstadt, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (now Vlastějovi ...

and Edwin Thanhouser, starring

William Garwood William Davis Garwood, Jr. (April 28, 1884 – December 28, 1950) was an American stage and film actor and director of the early silent film era in the 1910s. Between 1911 and 1913, Garwood starred in a number of early adaptions of popula ...

. The only known copy of this film was rediscovered in 1999 on the floor of the projection booth in a

Superior, Montana Superior is a town in, and the county seat of, Mineral County, Montana, United States. The population was 830 at the 2020 census. History Superior was named after its founders' hometown of Superior, Wisconsin in 1869. The post office was establi ...

movie theater A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall ( Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

. In 2001, this film was selected for preservation in the United States

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...

by the

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as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

''The Evidence of the Film'' tells the story of a messenger boy (

Marie Eline Marie Eline (February 27, 1902 – January 3, 1981) was an American silent film child actress and sister of Grace Eline. Their mother was an actress. Eline acted on stage for three years before she acted in films. Nicknamed "The Thanhouser ...

) at a

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

who is framed for the theft of $20,000 in bonds by a broker (

). The broker plans to have his office staff witness him placing the bonds into an envelope and give it to the messenger boy to deliver to his client. Next, the broker follows the boy, knocks him down "by accident," and switches the original envelope with another filled with newspaper scraps. The broker successfully pulls off his scheme, however, his collision with the messenger occurs in front of a film crew shooting a scene on the streets. When the boy delivers the newspaper-filled envelope to the client, a widow named Mrs. Caroline Livingston (

Helen Badgley Helen Badgley (December 1, 1908 – October 25, 1977) was an American child actor, child actress of the silent films, silent film era. Biography Badgley was born in Saratoga Springs, New York. At three years of age she appeared in her first fi ...

), she calls a policeman to arrest the bewildered boy. He calls his sister ( Florence LaBadie) for help just before a judge sentences him to time in jail. Fortunately, his sister happens to be a film editor, and she finds the footage the film crew shot of the broker stealing from the boy. The sister delivers the film to the authorities, who arrest the broker and free the messenger boy.

Cast

as The Broker *

as Messenger Boy *

Riley Chamberlin Riley Chamberlin (November 7, 1854 – January 24, 1917) was an American silent film actor. Born in Byron, Michigan, he was a graduate of Grand Rapids High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He attended Clinet College, Cornell University, and ...

as Clerk *

Florence La Badie Florence La Badie (born Florence Russ; April 27, 1888 – October 13, 1917) was an American-Canadian actress in the early days of the silent film era. She was a major star between 1911 and 1917. Her career was at its height when she died a ...

as Sister of Little Boy *

as Mrs. Caroline Livingstone

References

External links

*''The Evidence of the Film'' essay by Ned Thanhouser at

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* *
The Evidence of the Film
' at the Thanhouser Company Film Preservation, Inc. website
Lobby poster
1913 films 1910s crime films 1913 short films American crime films American silent short films American black-and-white films Films set in studio lots Thanhouser Company films United States National Film Registry films Articles containing video clips 1910s rediscovered films Rediscovered American films Films directed by Lawrence Marston 1910s American films {{Short-silent-film-stub