The Adventures of Billy
About The Adventures of Billy
Little Billy, a bootblack played by Edna Foster, is broke and starts walking to another town. Two tramps, Donald Crisp and Joseph Graybill, force him to beg for them. They hold up an old man, W. Chrystie Miller, and kill him by accident when they throw him down. Afraid Billy will talk, they lock him away and mean to kill him. A dog leads rescuers to the boy, and the tramps are caught.
Cast & crew
More about The Adventures of Billy
D. W. Griffith directed James Carroll's scenario for Biograph. G. W. Bitzer photographed it. General Film Company released it on 19 October 1911. Biograph copyrighted it on 21 October 1911 (J161914).
Themes
Making
Edna Foster, a child player who worked steadily at Biograph, plays Billy.
Look
G. W. Bitzer photographed the short for Biograph.
Preservation
A paper print survives. Silent Era lists the short as extant and notes home-video editions on Blu-ray and DVD.
Notes
- Dell Henderson and Claire McDowell play a rich man and woman. Kate Bruce is a maid. Frank Evans is a farmer.
- Charles Hill Mailes and Alfred Paget play farmhands who help in the rescue.
- Griffith himself is on a park bench, uncredited.
- The Moving Picture World synopsis is the source for the bootblack's walk and the dog.
Scenes
- The tramps throw the old man down so hard that he dies.
- They decide Billy has to die because he saw it.
- A dog brings the rescuers to him.
