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The Inner Circle
(1912) United States of America
B&W : Short film
Directed by D.W. Griffith
Cast: Adolph Lestina [the widower], Jack Pickford [the messenger], J. Jiquel Lanoe [the rich Italian], Mary Pickford [the rich Italian’s daughter], Charles Hill Mailes [the first gangster], Alfred Paget [the first police agent], Joseph McDermott [the second police agent], W. Christy Cabanne (Christy Cabanne) [a gang member], Gladys Egan [a little girl], Charles Gorman [an accident witness], Robert Harron [a man in the crowd; and an accident witness], Baden Powell [a little boy], Kate Toncray [a woman in the crowd], [?] Blanche Sweet?
Biograph Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by George Hennessy. Cinematography by G.W. Bitzer. / Released 12 August 1912. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? A lonely widower living in the Italian quarter of the city, whose only solace since the death of his wife is his little child, is reluctantly a member of a secret society existent among his countrymen. The active members of this society have observed with envy the success of another Italian and feel that they should share the proceeds of his industry without working for it, so to this end send the wealthy man a demand for $5,000, ostensibly to defray the expenses of their society. The rich man is defiant and consequently the society decides upon his annihilation, electing the widower to do the deed. He at first rebels against the move, but has little choice, for it is a case of the marked man or himself. Hence, off he goes on the terrible errand. In the meantime, the widower’s child wanders off and is thrown down by an automobile and, though not injured, is carried into the doomed house just as the father places and lights a bomb beneath it. You may imagine the man's position when, as he is leaving the place, he sees his own child through the window of the room just above the terrible instrument of destruction.
Survival status: Prints exist in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive]; and in the Mary Pickford Institute for Film Education film collection [35mm duplicate negative].
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 9 September 2023.
References: Barry-Griffith p. 43; Eyman-Pickford p. 327; Spehr-American p. 2 : Website-IMDb; Website-Legacy; Website-Pickford.
Home video: DVD.
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