|
The Measure of a Man
(1914) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Paul Powell
Cast: Joseph De Grasse [Sandy], Henry King [Matthews, the superintendent], L.C. Shumway (Lee Shumway) [Bradley, the shift boss], Marion Emmons [Tommy]
Lubin Manufacturing Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Siegmund Lubin. / Released 10 February 1914. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Sandy, a derelict, drifts into a western camp looking for a job. Bradley, a shift boss, assaults him because his necessity makes him importunate. Mathews, the superintendent, witnesses the assault and discharges Bradley. Sandy is given work. Bradley, in resentment, sets the Mexican laborers against Sandy and they attack him and leave him oh the ground unconscious. Again Mathews rescues him and discharges all the Mexicans concerned. He orders Sandy taken to one of the bunkhouses and cared for. Later, Bradley learns that the money for the payroll will arrive in camp late in the afternoon. Mathews and the engineers have planned to spend the day at the headworks, some miles distant. Bradley collects the discharged Mexicans and unfolds to them a plot to seize the camp and obtain the money. The superintendent leaves Sandy and the boy in the bunkhouse to take care of each other, and departs with his men. Sandy takes a nap, and Tommy goes out to play. He sees the Mexicans enter camp and breaks into the gun room and overhears their plans to raid the powder house next in quest of the ammunition. Hurrying back to the bunkhouse he wakes Sandy and tells him what he has discovered. Sandy, though still weak from his injuries, realizes that if he can keep the Mexicans from obtaining ammunition he can defeat their plans. He sends the boy over the hills to bring back the men and hurries to the powder house. A hydraulic nozzle used for excavating, and capable of discharging a stream of water at terrific force, is located near the powder house. When the Mexicans led by Bradley appear on the scene, he orders them to stand back, but they laugh at him and charge. Quickly whirling the valve open, he discharges into their midst a stream of water which scatters them right and left. Bradley after a while conceives the idea of sending a couple of men far up the canyon to cut off the water supply. This causes a delay, during which Tommy arrives at the headworks and starts back with help. Just as the stream fails the rescuers appear in the distance. The Mexicans in their eagerness to take possession of the powder house do not see Mathews and his men until they are surrounded. Bradley is captured by Sandy, who hurls himself on him and holds him until assistance comes.
Survival status: The film is presumed lost.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 10 December 2024.
References: Website-IMDb.
|
