The Fatal Hour
About The Fatal Hour
Pong Lee's gang kidnaps a young woman. A woman detective tracks Hendricks, the man behind the plot, and gets the captive out, only to be taken herself. The gang rigs a pistol to a clock so that it will fire when the hands reach the hour. Police break in and free her in the seconds before the shot.
Cast & crew
More about The Fatal Hour
D. W. Griffith directed and wrote this Biograph one-reeler, and he appears as a policeman. Arthur Marvin photographed it. George Gebhardt plays Hendricks, Harry Solter plays Pong Lee, Linda Arvidson the kidnapped woman, and Marion Leonard the detective. Mack Sennett is a policeman. Anthony O'Sullivan plays a driver. Florence Auer, Charles Gorman, and Jeanie MacPherson are also in the cast.
Themes
Background
A Biograph crime short from August 1908, early in Griffith's run at the studio, built so the last moments cut between the prisoner and the clock.
Look
Arthur Marvin shot the kidnapping, the detective's pursuit, and the room where the pistol is wired to the clock.
Notes
- The weapon is tied to a clock face, so the rescue is a race against the hands.
- Arvidson, the kidnapped woman, was Griffith's wife.
- Biograph released it as a one-reel crime short.
Scenes
- The detective is tied in front of a pistol that will fire when the clock reaches the hour.
- Police reach her with seconds left on the dial.
