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Merry Mary
(1916) United States of America
B&W : Short film
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Jack Drumier [Professor Noggs], Vola Smith (Vola Vale) [Merry Mary], José Ruben [Paul Jerome], Jack Mulhall [Brannigan, the lunatic], Claire McDowell [Miss Twemlow], Adelaide Woods [Mary’s old nurse]
Biograph Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Released 9 May 1916. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Merry Mary is the ward of Profesor Noggs, a bookworm. The Professor sent Mary to college when she was quite a young girl, keeping her there through all the years until her graduation, which occurs at the opening of the subject. The Professor receives a letter which states that Mary has finished her college period and will arrive home possibly as soon as he receives the letter. Poor Noggs is quite beside himself, because he resents the presence of any woman besides his old housekeeper in his home. When Mary arrives, the untidy condition of the house to her, is overwhelming, and when the Professor is called away for a few days to deliver a course of lectures, she avails herself of the opportunity to transmodify the home. You may imagine that the Professor upon his return is staggered. As the finishing touch to her efforts, Mary gives a party to some of her young friends, among whom is a young man whose attentions and appearance quite appeal to Mary. This attachment is noticed by the Professor, who decides to put Mary out of harm’s way by sending her to Miss Twemlow, an old friend and sweetheart of his. Mary resents this move by the Professor, but his word is law, and she becomes quite resigned to put herself in the companionship of what she assumes is a straitlaced old maid, until a happy thought comes to her, which she acts upon. Anna Nelson, an old nurse of hers, keeps an inn near the town where Miss Twemlow resides, so Mary decides to pretend to leave for Miss Twemlow’s, but instead goes to visit her old nurse Anna. Mary’s trunk arrives at Miss Twemlow’s, who after waiting a day for Mary’s arrival, becomes alarmed and wires the Professor that though Mary‘s trunk has arrived, Mary herself has not yet put in an appearance. This brings the Professor to Miss Twemlow’s to investigate. In the meantime, Paul Jerome, who is a doctor at a neighboring insane asylum, is invited ostensibly by his aunt to spend his vacation with her, but really to meet Mary with a view of a match. As Paul leaves the institution, Brannigan, a lunatic who believes himself a detective, decides to escape, which he effects by concealing himself in the back of Paul’s auto. Midway along the road, Brannigan leaps up to attack Paul, but through a sudden swerve of the car is thrown on the road. Before Paul can right his machine, it runs into a tree, throwing Paul forward, wounded and insensible. When Paul recovers, he realizes that he cannot leave for his aunt’s house that night, on account of the condition of the machine, and makes his way to the nearest roadhouse, which happens to be the inn kept by Anna. Here he is cared for and his wounds dressed by Anna, assisted by Mary, who makes quite an impression on him, so much so that Paul prolongs his visit there for several days, all the while gaining the confidence of Mary, who, being of a romantic nature, sees in Paul her hero, eventually consenting to go with him to the nearest minister to be married, in the meantime, the Professor has arrived at Miss Twemlow’s, and from there institutes a search for the missing Mary. While Paul and Mary are at the minister’s, the guards from the insane asylum have reached the inn, after a scour of the country, and inform Anna of the escape of the lunatic, begging her to be on the lookout for him. When Mary and Paul return, Mary tells Anna of her secret marriage, and together they go to the kitchen, where Paul had stopped to get something to eat. Certain actions on the part of Paul cause Anna and Mary to believe that Paul is none other than the escaped lunatic, from whom they flee in terror. Mary, escaping through the woods, comes upon the hut where the lunatic had put up and seeing the approach of the lunatic, she rushes in, bolting the door, preventing his entrance. He simply marches up and down, keeping guard over the entrance, imagining her some queen in captivity and preventing her escape. Paul has overtaken Anna and convinces her of her mistake, so together they hurriedly make their way back to the inn, where they find Mary missing. About this time the searching guards come upon Brannigan, and in a humoring way induce him to return to the asylum, they have hardly left the front of the shack, the guards, of course, ignorant of the fact that Mary is on the inside, when Paul and Anna come up, explaining the object of their search. Brannigan, boasting, says: “I have her in captivity in yon castle,” and Paul finds that this is the truth, and immediately releases her. Brannigan is taken back to the asylum, while Paul takes Mary to his aunt’s house, where he explains that he has just married the sweetest little girl in the world. Of course, this apparently knocks into smithereens the intentions of the aunt, who does not recognize Mary, until the poor old Professor returns after a fruitless search, to see that Cupid has joined hands with fate to bring about the very condition that the old folks wished for.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 7 December 2024.
References: Spehr-American p. 3 : Website-IMDb.
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