''The Exquisite Thief'' is a 1919 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Tod Browning Tod Browning (born Charles Albert Browning Jr.; July 12, 1880 – October 6, 1962) was an American film director, film actor, screenwriter, vaudeville performer, and carnival sideshow and circus entertainer. He directed a number of films of vari ...

. Prints and/or fragments were found in the

Dawson Film Find The Dawson Film Find (DFF) was the accidental discovery in 1978 of 372 film titles preserved in 533 reels of silent-era nitrate films in the Klondike Gold Rush town of Dawson City, Yukon, Canada. The reels had been buried under an abandoned hock ...

in 1978.

Plot

As described in a film magazine, Blue Jean Billie (Dean), a prosperous young woman crook who lives apart from the denizens of the underworld, has pulled off many robberies of the high society world with the help of her pal Shaver Michael (De Grasse). Billie gains admission to the Vanderhoof dinner at which the engagement of their daughter to Lord Chesterton (Hall) will be announced. While the dinner is in progress, Billie gags and

handcuffs Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists in proximity to each other. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge, or rigid bar. Each cuff has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet tha ...

special officer Detective Wood (Ross), and proceeds to make a wholesale robbery of the guests. She flees in an automobile and none succeed in tracking her save Lord Chesterton. She makes a prisoner of him, but a police raid follows and she must flee. Once more Lord Chesterton succeeds in following her and again she makes him her prisoner, but she learns to trust and love him. The special agent and Shaver Michael arrive at the scene with resulting complications, but a happy end results for all.

Cast

Priscilla Dean Priscilla Dean (November 25, 1896 – December 27, 1987) was an American actress popular in silent film as well as in theatre, with a career spanning two decades. Biography She was born on November 25, 1896 in Manhattan, New York City to an activ ...

as Blue Jean Billie *

Thurston Hall Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stag ...

as Algernon P. Smythe (Lord Chesterton) *

Milton Ross Milton Ross (December 2, 1876 – September 6, 1941) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1914 and 1948. Selected filmography * ''The Green Swamp'' (1916) * ''The Gunfighter'' (1917) * '' The Desert Man'' ( ...

as Det. Wood *

Sam De Grasse Samuel Alfred De Grasse (June 12, 1875 – November 29, 1953) was a Canadian actor. He was the uncle of cinematographer Robert De Grasse. Biography Samuel Alfred De Grasse was born in Bathurst, New Brunswick to Lange De Grasse (1828–1891) ...

as Shaver Michael *

Jean Calhoun Jean Calhoun (April 1, 1891 – August 25, 1958) was an American film actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era. She was a descendant of Martin Jenkins Crawford (March 17, 1820 – July 23, 1883), an antebellum U.S. Repres ...

as Muriel Vanderflip

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Exquisite Thief, The 1919 films American silent feature films American black-and-white films 1919 drama films Films directed by Tod Browning Universal Pictures films Silent American drama films 1910s American films