The Burglar’s Dilemma
About The Burglar’s Dilemma
On his birthday, a cheerful householder played by Lionel Barrymore is surrounded by friends while his brother, Henry B. Walthall, drinks and then strikes him. Barrymore falls and looks dead. Harry Carey has pushed a young burglar, Robert Harron, into robbing that house; Harron climbs through the window and finds the body. Walthall fetches the police and says the burglar did it. Detectives sweat Harron. Barrymore wakes, says he fell and hit his head, and Harron is held only for burglary. Walthall promises to stop drinking.
Cast & crew
More about The Burglar’s Dilemma
D. W. Griffith directed. Lionel Barrymore wrote the scenario and plays the householder. G. W. Bitzer photographed it. The General Film Company released the Biograph short on December 16, 1912.
Themes
Look
G. W. Bitzer photographed the birthday, the dark study where Harron finds the body, and the police interrogation.
Preservation
A print survives. It has been issued in the Griffith Biograph short sets from Flicker Alley and from Kino, and it is on the Internet Archive.
Notes
- Henry B. Walthall plays the brother who strikes the blow and then blames the burglar.
- Harry Carey is the older crook who sends Harron in. Lillian Gish and Dorothy Gish are among the birthday guests.
- Alfred Paget and John T. Dillon play the detectives who run the interrogation.
- Adolph Lestina plays the butler. Charles West is the beat cop who also turns up as a medic.
- Wikipedia times a surviving print at about 15 minutes at 18 frames per second.
Scenes
- Walthall strikes Barrymore after the birthday guests leave, and Barrymore hits his head.
- Harron's flashlight finds the body on the study floor.
- The detectives work Harron over until the medics discover Barrymore is alive.
Also available
- Internet Archive (TheBurglarsDilemma)
- Flicker Alley, D.W. Griffith: Years of Discovery, volume 2
- Kino, Griffith Biograph shorts
