''The Kidnapped Bride'' is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the

Lubin Manufacturing Company The Lubin Manufacturing Company was an American motion picture production company that produced silent films from 1896 to 1916. Lubin films were distributed with a Liberty Bell trademark. History The Lubin Manufacturing Company was formed in 1 ...

, starring Eva Bell,

Raymond McKee Eldon Raymond McKee (December 7, 1892 – October 3, 1984), also credited as Roy McKee, was an American stage and screen actor. His film debut was in the 1912 production ''The Lovers' Signal''. Over the next 23 years, he performed in no less ...

, Frank Griffin, and

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...

. It is a sequel to ''

A Brewerytown Romance ''A Brewerytown Romance'' is a lost 1914 American silent comedy film produced by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, starring Eva Bell, Raymond McKee, Frank Griffin, and Oliver Hardy. Plot Lena's jealous boyfried Heinz is furious when Lena dance ...

'', released earlier the same year.

Plot

(The story picks up where ''A Brewerytown Romance'' ends.) Lena and Cassidy, escorted by Cassidy's fellow cops, head to the church to be married. Emil and Heinz, after they are fished out of the river, plot to kidnap Lena. They start a fight as a diversion and then steal the wedding carriage, pushing Cassidy out but driving off with Lena, as Cassidy and the other cops give chase. When they arrive at the church, Emil and Heinz fight over who is to marry Lena. Emil knocks Heinz out, but is himself knocked out by Lena. The rescue party arrives and Lena collapses in the arms of Cassidy as the cops cheer.Rob Stone, ''Laurel or Hardy: The Solo Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver "Babe" Hardy'' (Temecula, CA: Split Reel Books, 1996), pp. 11–12, 18–19.

Cast

* Eva Bell as Lena Krautheimer *

as Emil Schweitzer * Frank Griffin as Tango Heinz *

as Daniel Cassidy (credited as Babe Hardy)

Production and reception

''The Kidnapped Bridge'' was filmed in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, at the Jacksonville unit of the

, under the supervision of

Arthur Hotaling Arthur Douglas Hotaling (February 3, 1873 – July 13, 1938) was an American film director, producer and writer. He directed 113 films between 1910 and 1928, including the 1914 film ''Outwitting Dad'', which featured the onscreen debut of ...

. It was a short split-reel comedy, lasting approximately 7 minutes, and sharing a single reel of film with a second, unrelated comedy, ''It's a Shame''. The films were released by the General Film Company on July 4, 1914. The film was written and directed by Frank Griffin, who went on to direct several other short comedies for Lubin. It was a sequel to ''A Brewerytown Romance'', which featured the same cast and characters, and was released a month earlier, on June 2, 1914. Film historian Rob Stone has suggested that both parts were filmed at the same time as a one-reel comedy, which was then cut into two and combined with two other films for split-reel release. Like ''A Brewerytown Romance'', ''The Kidnapped Bride'' is notable for an early screen appearance by Oliver Hardy (credited by his nickname, Babe Hardy), who played supporting and occasionally starring roles in many of the Lubin comedies produced by the Jacksonville unit in 1914 and 1915. ''The Kidnapped Bride'' was described by ''Moving Picture World'' as "burlesque in the broadest sense", but it received more positive reviews in the trade papers than ''A Brewerytown Romance''. ''Motion Picture News'' called it "a laugh throughout",''Motion Picture News'', vol. 10, no. 2 (July 18, 1914), p. 60
/ref> and the ''New York Dramatic Mirror'' wrote "Rapid fire comedy presented in a sure manner and a hard-working cast characterize this short farce offering".

Plot

Cast

Production and reception

References

See also