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Cartoons in a Seminary
(1915) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Raoul Barré
Cast: Caroline Rankin [Miss Syntax], Gladys Leslie [Laura], Yale Boss [Jim]
Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated, production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Raoul Barré. / Released 22 September 1915. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / Live action with animated sequences.
Comedy: Cartoon.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Laura tells her companions at Miss Syntax’s seminary that Jim, her sweetheart, is to visit her that afternoon. Shortly afterward, Jim climbs the fence surrounding the school playground, and after greeting the them girls, shows a copy of the “Grouch Chaser.” The girls get a great laugh out of “Silas Bunkum’s Boarders Picnic” in which Silas, his wife and their three guests spend a lively day in the country. They spread their cloth and prepare to eat on the grass, but a huge spider from an overhanging tree steals the old maid’s wig and carries it up into the branches. A bird comes along and lays an egg in it. The boss of the whole situation, however, is the Limburger cheese, which finally compels even the dog to retreat. The bird is frightened from the wig-nest by the return of the spider and the spider drops the egg on the dog’s head as he prepares for another attack on the cheese. The bird gets a whiff of the cheese and, asphyxiated, drops into the open mouth of the dog. A snake passes through the tunnels in the cheese and remarks that, “This subway air is awful.” Finally, both humans and animals are vanquished, and the victorious cheese is left in possession of the field. Hearing the principal coming, Jim looks about for a place to hide. As she comes out of the door, he is obliged to jump into a barrel of rain water. Miss Syntax discovers the book in Gladys’ hand and is soon chuckling over “Kid Kelly Krusoe” in which Billy is reading the classic story of Robinson arid his man Friday. Dozing off, Billy is transformed in his dream into a regular Crusoe, with goat-skin suit and a parrot in place of a watch-dog. He finds “Friday,” sure enough, and together they have some funny adventures until Billy is awakened by his mother’s call to dinner. As they finish looking at this cartoon, Jim in the rain-water barrel, sneezes loudly, and Miss Syntax discovers him. As a punishment for the invasion of the school grounds, Jim is forced to stand, wet and shivering, until they look at the last cartoon, “Mr. Hicks in Nightmareland,” in which Hercules, the oppressed, is seen smoking a big perfecto while sitting on the windowsill. At the approach of his better half, he puts the cigar in his pants pocket, and shortly afterwards falls asleep. He dreams that he has descended to the “Heated Region” and the devil proceeds to make him feel “at home.” He is invited to eat some smoking dynamite bombs, but they all blow up just as he reaches for them. He is harassed by imps and denizens of the lower regions, and finally a miniature devil applies a fiery torch to his trousers. As the blaze burns him, he wakes up, and finds that his cigar has set fire to his pocket, and that the smoke is being noticed by Mrs. Hicks, who jumps up, seizes a fire extinguisher, and turns it upon him compelling him to jump out of the window to escape. Miss Syntax restores the book to Jim with a warning to never again invade the sacred precincts of the seminary.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Animation
Listing updated: 19 November 2022.
References: Everson-American p. 209 : Website-IMDb.
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