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An American Gentleman
(1915) United States of America
B&W : Five reels
Directed by John Gorman
Cast: William Bonelli [George Hathaway], Grace Lowell [Helen Davis; and Corina], Charles Graham [Zeppo, the gypsy chief], Virginia Fairfax [Zara, the old gypsy queen], Douglas Sibole [a villain], Martha Illington [a villainess], Wilbur Hudson, George W. Middleton
Liberty Motion Picture Company production; distributed on State Rights basis by [?] Liberty Motion Picture Company and/or Associated Film Sales Corporation? / From the play An American Gentleman by William Bonelli. / Released 15 September 1915. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The first production of the Liberty Motion Picture Company. Bonelli’s film debut.
Drama: Adventure.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Helen Davis, a girl of four, is run down by a reckless driver and suffers considerable injuries. The frightened driver, thinking he has killed the girl, carries the limp form into the woods, where later it is discovered by gypsies. After nursing the child back to health, these roamers attempt to return the baby to its parents, but their mission being misinterpreted they are driven from the Davis estate. For the next fourteen years, Helen Davis wanders well over the face of the earth with her Nomad companions, finally returning with them to the scenes of her childhood. The theft of a horse in the neighborhood brings the gypsies under the sway of an unscrupulous lawyer, who has had for a client an aged eccentric named Hathaway. The old man, having lost considerable money through a bank failure, has buried his treasure, drawing a cipher map denoting its whereabouts. This he shows to his attorney, the unscrupulous lawyer. The attorney determines to secure the buried treasure, and through the co-operation of the gypsy chiefs the Hathaway house is ransacked for the map. While this crime is being committed old man Hathaway is murdered. He leave a son, George Hathaway, who has just returned from a European trip, and who has not only determined to recover the family wealth but also avenge his father’s murder. In the execution of these dual objects he meets Helen Davis, now Corina, a gypsy beauty, and straightaway falls in love with her. The trials and tribulations incident to the recovery of the family gold chest carries George Hathaway through many thrilling adventures, but eventually ends in his securing the chest and in the leaders of the gypsies plunging dramatically to their death through a broken bridge into a gully hundreds of feet below. Helen Davis is quickly restored to her father, who can do nothing but consent to her marriage to George Hathaway.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 13 September 2023.
References: Website-AFI; Website-ASFFDb; Website-IMDb.
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