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The “Strenuous” Life; or, Anti-Race Suicide
(1904) United States of America
B&W : 330 feet
Directed by [?] Edwin S. Porter?
Cast: Kathryn Osterman
Edison Manufacturing Company production; distributed by Edison Manufacturing Company. / Cinematography by Edwin S. Porter. / © 19 December 1904 by Thomas A. Edison [H55129]. Released December 1904. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The production was shot at Edison’s 21st Street Studio in New York, New York, and Manhattan locations on 8-9 and 14 December 1904.
[?] Comedy?
Synopsis: [From Edison promotional materials] The picture opens with the interior of a merchant’s private business office. The head of the firm is engaged at his desk, while the lady stenographer is busy at the typewriter. There is a telephone call, which evidently demands prompt attention, as the head of the firm rushes for his coat and hat. The stenographer endeavors to assist him, and from her actions, she is evidently aware of the urgency of the call. In the excitement the lady’s hat gets on her employer’s head, and things get generally mixed. The next scene shows a hansom cab, dashing up the street. It stops in front of a fashionable doctor’s residence. Our friend, the merchant, alights, rushes up the steps, and soon returns, accompanied by an elderly doctor. They both jump into the hansom, the driver is given his orders, and off they dash. The next scene shows a handsomely furnished parlor. A maid answers the door, and the doctor and merchant enter. They remove their overcoats, and the doctor takes his medicine case and goes upstairs, while the merchant tries to interest himself with a newspaper. He soon tires, throws it down, and paces nervously about the room. Soon a nurse appears with a baby, which she places in its father’s arms. He is soon overcome with delight. A scale is brought and the baby is weighed, showing ten full pounds. He has no more than settled himself in a chair with the baby, when a maid rushes in with a second baby, which is weighed and given to the father. The nurse soon appears with a third, and she is quickly followed by the maid with a fourth baby. This proves too much for the fond father, who promptly collapses. The doctor now appears on the scene and restores the poor man to consciousness. When he recovers he recognizes the doctor, and with two of the babies in his arms he promptly kicks the doctor out of the house.
Survival status: Print exists in the Museum of Modern Art film archive.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 18 March 2008.
References: Fell-History p. 36; Leyda-Before pp. 78, 81, 118 : Website-AFI.
Home video: DVD.
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