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The Terror
(1917) United States of America
B&W : Five reels
Directed by Raymond Wells
Cast: Jack Mulhall [Chuck Connelly], [?] Grace MacLean or Grace MacLaren? [Maggie Connelly], Virginia Lee [Annie Mangan], Malcolm Blevins [Jim Canford], Hugh Hoffman [Jerome Travers], Noble Johnson [Mike Tregurtha], Jean Hersholt [Jimm, the dope], Evelyn Selbie [Mrs. Connelly]
The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated, production; distributed by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated [Red Feather Photoplays]. / Scenario by Raymond Wells and Fred Myton. Cinematography by R.E. Irish. / © 31 January 1917 by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated [LP10098]. Released 12 February 1917. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Suspense: Crime.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Chuck Connelly discovers his sister in a compromising situation with a gunman and kills the man. Two private detectives connect him with the crime. Later, the members of the protected organization to which the man belonged, attempt to kill Chuck, but he kills three of them and the detectives help him make a getaway. They then force Chuck with threats of the electric chair to kill a reformer who has been upsetting the organization. Chuck then becomes a regular member of the gang. Chuck falls in love with Annie Mangan, who is persuaded to go to the Salvation Army home. Chuck comes to the dancehall looking for her and is told that she has joined the Salvation Army. The new District Attorney is pounding the graft organizations. Word is passed to the gunmen to get him. Chuck goes to the District Attorney’s house to threaten him, and is taken aback when the District Attorney’s three-year-old daughter leans trustfully on his knee and looks up into his face with a smile. He goes to the Salvation Army for another sight of Annie. Chuck’s sister has become the mistress of Jim Canford, the man higher up. The District Attorney pays no attention to the warning. Chuck is ordered to kill him and breaks into the house. He sees the District Attorney’s little daughter, who forgot one of her dolls and is on her way to the library to get it. He steps out of sight, the child passes him, and he attempts to go up the stairs but cannot do it. Canford arranges to put some other man on the job and accuse Chuck. His sister overhears and warns Chuck, who has gone to the Salvation Army. He tells Annie he has thrown the gang down and asks her to teach him “this religion thing.” She explains, but he cannot understand how a few words of acknowledgment can square all he has done. His sister arrives and, seeing a chance “to square himself with God,” goes to save the District Attorney. The gunmen have surrounded the District Attorney’s house before Chuck arrives. He reaches the door and sees the gunmen. There is no time to wait, so he breaks through the library window, grabs the District Attorney and his daughter, hurries them up stairs and faces the gunmen. The District Attorney’s life is saved, but Chuck is mortally wounded. Word is sent to Annie and his sister and they come to the house. Chuck dies, feeling that this was the only way in which he could atone. // Additional synopsis available in AFI-F1 n. F1.4390.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Children - Self-sacrifice
Listing updated: 2 December 2023.
References: AFI-F1 n. F1.4390; Hirschhorn-Universal p. 27; Spehr-American p. 273 : ClasIm-224 p. 55 : Website-ASFFDb; Website-IMDb.
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