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His Best Friend
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Alice Guy-Blaché
Cast: Frances Gibson
Solax Company production; distributed by Motion Picture Distributing & Sales Company. / Released 27 January 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Lord Kilgore, seated one day in his ancestral home with his best friend, Betsy, at his feet, is called upon by an attorney, who shows him a copy of his uncle’s will, containing the remarkable provision that his entire fortune is left to Lord Kilgore, provided he will immediately proceed to American and marry his cousin, Alice Wetstone, whom his lordship has never seen. Lord Kilgore, after mature deliberation, decides to comply with his uncle’s wishes, and departs with his four-footed friend, Betsy, for the United States. On the ship he meets Villiers, a New York crook, to whom he confides the purpose of his trip. Villiers conceives the idea of detaining Lord Kilgore and of impersonating him at the home of the girl whom he is going to see. Bribing the wireless operator aboard the ship, he sends a message to his gang in New York to have one of their number disguised as a coachman meet the vessel upon its arrival and prevents Lord Kilgore from sending a message to have his friends meet him. When the ship reaches New York, Villiers secures Lord Kilgore, and leaving him bound in a room at the headquarters of the gang, proceeds to the house of Alice, who has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Lord Kilgore. Villiers reckoned, however, without the trusty friend of Lord Kilgore, his dog Betsy. The wonderful dog takes advantage of Villiers’ absence from the room to give her master a pencil and paper, upon which he scribbles a note acquainting Alice of his plight. The dog, with human intelligence, then hides herself in one of Lord Kilgore’s suit cases, and delivers the note to Alice, having been carried there by the villain himself. The “best friend” then leads Alice and a rescuing party to the place where Kilgore is detained. His lordship is liberated and the villain arrested, and all ends happily.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 11 February 1911, page ?] The Solax people, in this film, have not covered themselves with any great slathers of glory. It is a scenario that is obviously written to exploit the performing ability of a very smart fox terrier. The acting of the dog is far superior to the acting of the people in this picture, and the excellent work of this well-trained canine, may carry the picture over to the average audience. But, as was said before, the plot is so obviously written around the dog’s tricks, that without the dog, the story would not bring five cents in the scenario market. The photography in the studio scenes is out of focus. One of the Solax Company, was present when we reviewed this film, and he himself admitted that it was not quite up to snuff.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 19 February 2024.
References: Website-IMDb.
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