Teddy at the Throttle
About Teddy at the Throttle
Gloria Dawn lives near her sweetheart Bobbie Knight. Her guardian Henry Black also handles Bobbie's inheritance, has been spending the money, and wants his own sister to marry Bobbie. Black snatches Gloria and ties her to railroad tracks. She digs a hole under the rails and the train passes over her. Clarence G. Badger directed the Keystone short, with Teddy the Dog in the cast.
Cast & crew
More about Teddy at the Throttle
Mack Sennett produced the Keystone short and Triangle Film Corporation distributed it on April 15, 1917. Wikipedia lists 24 minutes, two reels, and Wikidata lists 18 minutes. The train scenes were shot in San Bernardino, Swanson did the dive under the train herself, and the Wikimedia file name uses 1916.
Themes
Making
Wikipedia's production section, drawing on Swanson's autobiography, places the separation just before filming and records that she did the dive under the train herself.
Preservation
35mm copies are held by the George Eastman Museum and Blackhawk Films, and in the private collection of Richard M. Roberts.
Notes
- Bobby Vernon plays Bobbie Knight, Gloria Swanson plays Gloria Dawn, and Wallace Beery plays Henry Black.
- May Emory plays the guardian's sister and Blanche Phillips the boy's mercenary aunt.
- Wallace Beery and Gloria Swanson had been married two months before the short was produced, and they had separated.
- On the tracks scene Beery was rough with Swanson. She said she was not acting when she kicked and struggled.
- 35mm copies are at the George Eastman Museum, at Blackhawk Films, and in Richard M. Roberts's collection.
Scenes
- Henry Black ties Gloria to the tracks, and she drops into a hole as the train passes over.
Also available
- Wikimedia Commons (Teddy at the Throttle (1916).webm)
