Faithful
“A Commendable Virtue Overdone”
About Faithful
John Dobbs, played by Arthur V. Johnson, is courting Florence Barker's character when his car knocks down Zeke, a simple-minded tramp played by Mack Sennett. John buys him a suit and gives him money. Zeke, called Faithful, will not leave him. John tries to shake him off. When the sweetheart's house catches fire, Zeke saves her. She agrees to marry John, with Zeke as part of the bargain.
Cast & crew
More about Faithful
D. W. Griffith directed. Frank E. Woods wrote it. G. W. Bitzer and Arthur Marvin photographed the one-reel comedy, 994 feet. Biograph released it on March 21, 1910. A Moving Picture World advertisement of March 26, 1910, billed it as "A Commendable Virtue Overdone."
Themes
Making
Biograph sold the short as a comedy about a virtue carried too far, with Sennett attached to Johnson for the whole reel.
Reviews
Moving Picture World of April 2, 1910, said few people have friends who are too faithful, and that this hero is unlucky in that way because his follower is half-witted.
Look
G. W. Bitzer and Arthur Marvin photographed the car accident and the house fire.
Music
Silent, with English intertitles.
Preservation
A print is on the Internet Archive. The Library of Congress catalog summarizes the story.
Notes
- The Library of Congress note ties the plot to the idea that if you save a person's life, he is your responsibility forever.
- Kate Bruce plays the sweetheart's mother. Frank Powell is listed, unconfirmed, as a butler.
- Sennett, the tramp here, later ran Keystone.
- Moving Picture World reviewed it on April 2, 1910.
Scenes
- John's car knocks Zeke down, and John buys him a ready-made suit.
- Zeke saves her from the burning house.
Also available
- Internet Archive (FAITHFUL1910BiographMackSennettD.W.Griffith)
