An Awful Moment
About An Awful Moment
Judge Mowbray sends Matteo Rettazzi to jail. Rettazzi's wife, a Gypsy, follows the judge home. She watches the family get ready for Christmas. After the daughter is asleep she gags Mrs. Mowbray, ties her to a chair, and rigs a rifle, a Christmas present, so the door will pull the trigger. The judge comes back with the police, stops the shot, and the woman is taken away. He, his wife, and their child stand at the tree.
Cast & crew
More about An Awful Moment
D. W. Griffith directed. Arthur Marvin photographed it. It was Griffith's 46th film as director. Biograph shot it on 19 November 1908 in the New York studio and on 14th Street. The company copyrighted it on 10 December 1908 (H119490) and released it on 18 December 1908. The negative is 737 feet. The Biograph AB logo is visible in the sets. AFI prints an 8-minute timing for that length.
Themes
Making
Griffith built the trap in the Biograph studio: a rifle given as a Christmas present, a string on the trigger, and the door as the thing that fires it.
Look
Arthur Marvin photographed the courtroom, the 14th Street scenes, and the Christmas room where the rifle is aimed at the chair.
Preservation
A 35mm paper print is in the Library of Congress paper-print collection. The film is extant.
Notes
- Harry Solter plays Judge Mowbray. Florence Lawrence plays Mrs. Mowbray. Gladys Egan plays their daughter.
- George Gebhardt plays Matteo Rettazzi. Marion Leonard plays his wife.
- Silent Era also lists Linda Arvidson, Kate Bruce, Mack Sennett, Gertrude Robinson, and Florence Barker in the company.
- A paper print is in the Library of Congress. The film is extant.
Scenes
- The wife ties Mrs. Mowbray to a chair and strings the Christmas rifle to the door.
- The judge and the police reach the door before the shot.
- The family stands at the tree after the woman is led out.
Also available
- Library of Congress
- Wikimedia Commons (An Awful Moment (1908).webm)
