A short silent comedy produced by Gaston Mèliès in San Antonio.
Social & External
Mr. Newlywed
Mrs. Newlywed
Sad sack gob Billy finds himself challenged to two duels at the same time in the French countryside over two different women. Hilarity ensues when he tries desperately to avoid either!
Bingville is holding a beauty contest and the three finalists are Mary, Dora, and the Village Vamp. Dora's beau Eddie asks Walter, the contest judge, who will win, and is told that Dora will. Walter goes to the barber shop where the Village Vamp is the manicurist and her father is the barber, and advises them she will win. When they all arrive at the contest, Walter announces Mary as the winner. The mêlée that follows destroys the roadster that was the winner's prize.
Bobby, the doughboy, has left his sweetheart behind in Paris. He returns for her and has the greatest difficulty locating her. In his hunt he runs into the tough White Rat Cafe, where the Darling of Paris becomes enamored of him, thereby arousing the jealousy of her lover, who threatens Bobby with dire consequences. Bobby escapes, runs into his sweetheart, and in the chase, the villain at his heels is captured by the police as a badly wanted criminal.
The story centers on Flapjack Ike (played by John Bunny), a dominant local figure or "autocrat" in the titular town. Ike faces off against Edith, the Widow (played by Flora Finch), who challenges his authority.
We all remember the boy who cried wolf so often that when the wolf really did come the people did not believe it. Little Billy must never have heard this, or had forgotten it. His sisters Martha and Jane are very fearful of burglars entering their room, and their little brother decides to play a joke on them.
When our picture opens, Joe Flynn, a rider in the service of the government, has been shot from ambush by a masked man and is dying. Grouped at his bedside are his son Jack, a sturdy young man, the local doctor and the county sheriff. The old man dies and a week later we see Jack delivering the mail. The sheriff has inserted the description of the murderer in the Yuma Gulch Herald, and the country is being scoured to find him. Jack has a long and perilous ride between the two points of his route and is frequently beset with danger. Steve Benson, a desperado, who has killed old man Flynn, is living unhappily with his wife in hourly fear of having his crime discovered.
Small brothers are the bane of love affairs. The inimitable Cutey, reporter on a country paper, is courting Ethel Clark, the editor's daughter, and having a lively time with her small brother Tommy. The editor declares that unless Cutey brings in some live news he will be fired--and forbidden to call on Ethel anymore. So Cutey takes matters into his own hands and creates a sensation!
Housemaid Belinda finds a pin on the doorstep, taking it as a sign of good luck, just before a young man arrives looking for a room. The landlady, Ophelia, falls for the boarder at first sight. A policeman finds a fortune-teller's card, which Belinda takes to Ophelia. The two women visit Madam Miriam, who tells Ophelia a young blond man will fall in love with her. Both Ophelia and Belinda assume this refers to their new boarder, Sidney. Sidney, short on cash, tries to stay in Ophelia's good graces by taking her out for ice cream. While they are out, Belinda searches his room and finds a photograph of Sidney's wife, who is none other than the fortune-teller, Madam Miriam. Belinda is shocked by the discovery, revealing that the "omens and oracles" that fueled Ophelia's romantic hopes were part of a deception orchestrated by the boarder and his wife.
John Burton met Bessie Fields on her way home one day, and was for making love to her right then and there, but for the interruption of Crazy Joe, a half-witted boy, who always seemed to get in wrong. Burton was incensed, and, although Bessie protested, applied his whip to the demented boy, when Steve Ross, Bessie's sweetheart, happened along and rushed to the boy's rescue. Steve saw that Burton's attentions were not welcomed and ordered him off the scene. Next day, both went to Mr. Fields, and proposed for Bessie's hand. When Burton learned that Steve had been accepted, he rushed from the house, fired back upon it, and fled. Of two shots spent, one hit and killed Mr. Fields.
Abby Hopkins, the eldest of a small-town newspaper-owner's five daughters, is urged by her family to marry the wealthy, twice-widowed J.B. Hanks. Abby leaves Hank on the night of the wedding and goes to New York, where she supports herself as a waitress and shares an apartment with a co-worker. At the restaurant, Abby meets J. Booth Hunter, a heavy-drinking "ham" actor, and tries to convince him to give up liquor. Hanks shows up one day and during a battle with his estranged wife, Hunter comes to Abby's rescue. Abby finally gets a divorce from Hanks, Hunter conquers his drinking habit, and Abby marries him.
Bill Grimm, a taxicab driver, falls in love with Barbara Baxter, from Lyons, New York, the minute she steps off the train, and has him take her to Mrs. Whipple's boarding house, in spite of the interference by Jack Fairfax, Bill's rival. Boarders at Mrs. Whipple's include a prizefighter named "Butch,", his manager O'Brien, and Pansy the maid. This first entry in the series introduces the leading characters in the future films, and a few comical interludes.
Minnie, the homeliest girl in town, is devoted to her father, a discouraged inventor who has been working on a wireless device. Subject to the sneers of her neighbors, Minnie "invents" a lover and sends herself letters and flowers. Her stepsister suspects the truth and threatens to expose her. Desperate, she claims an unidentified body at the morgue and tells a reporter that this is her lover, unaware that the body is that of a Chinese man. The absent-minded reporter sees her heart and forgets about the big story. After further disappointments in the invention, Minnie's stepmother decides to leave her father. Her father then has a success and becomes rich. At a celebration, the stepsister and townspeople are surprised when a new couple appear, which turn out to be the former reporter and his lovely wife Minnie.
Katie Abbott, despairing of being a wallflower, is about to attempt suicide in the village pond when she is rescued by a young stranger.
A man tries to burgle his own safe on the same night that a professional criminal attempts it.
“This hilarious bit of foolishness has for its theme the gradual rise of a hard-working plumber and his wife, who, after years of struggle, find themselves with a lovely home. The wife who has social aspirations and a desire to entertain people of wealth and note, invites a millionaire couple to dinner. She hires a caterer to help her with the serving and they send a butler who turns out to be a truck driver with whom her husband has had a collision, a short time before, which resulted in a street fight. What these two do when they recognize each other and what happened to the millionaire couple has to be seen to be appreciated.”
Young and wealthy Molly Allison can't be "presented" into society until her older sister Julia is married, but that doesn't stop Molly from pursuing her usual wild ways. She finds herself in turn pursued by Count Renaud, unaware that he is a criminal interested in swindling her out of her money. To discourage the Renaud's attentions--and because she already has a boyfriend, Billy Wilcox--she tells Renaud that she is actually an Indian squaw who is just living in the Allison household. That doesn't stop the Count, however, and he turns his attentions to Molly's sister Julia.
A chaotic, night-long comedy ensues when a newlywed couple's celebration is interrupted by rowdy in-laws, a pet parrot that gets stuck inside the cooked turkey, and a series of slapstick mishaps. The turmoil is resolved when a perceived, romantic misunderstanding is revealed to be a secret surprise celebration for the husband's new contract and salary increase.
A lost film. Teddy Drake is a pleasure-seeking aristocrat who ends up expelled from his exclusive Fifth Avenue club for playing practical jokes and other rambunctious antics. He decides to reform his selfish ways and boards a train heading heading for the Southwest.
At a college dance, Kathryn meets popular football hero, Bill Putnam. However, after discovering he is working his way through school as a waiter, she strikes his name from her dance card in disgust. Bill's wealthy friends decide to teach her a lesson by pretending that they are also waiters. Humiliated, Kathryn flees the party in a rage. After reflecting on her behavior, Kathryn realizes that work and service are virtues. To atone for her previous elitism, she takes a job as a waitress at a restaurant. Bill's friends eventually spot her working and inform him of her change of heart. Bill rushes to her, proposes marriage, and is eventually put in charge of her father's oil interests.
