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Nell’s Last Deal
(1911) United States of America
B&W : Short film
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Mary Fuller [Nell], Frank McGlynn (Sr.), Guy Coombs [the successful lover], Louis B. Foley
Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated, production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / © 7 April 1911 by Thomas A. Edison, Incorporated [J154248, J154249, J154250, J154251]. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Nell, the motherless child of a gambler, has been her father’s constant companion both in work and play. She has grown up to young womanhood in an atmosphere of crime and lawlessness. One day her father is taken away suddenly as the result of a dispute at the tables. Nell decides to take his place and run her own game. A parson doing missionary work, finding her thus and realizing the danger to the young girl, persuades her to give up her precarious occupation. This she does. Packing her outfit, she throws it over her shoulder and leaves with the minister’s blessing and the Bible he had given her as her only companions. Upon arriving at her claim she finds she has as neighbors a group of rough but wholesome men. Nell devotes her time to the moral uplift of her companions. She organizes a Sunday School class, which they are only too happy to attend. Sunday School soon begins to take on the appearance of a courting-bee. One by one they all propose to Nell, only to be rejected, except two, Bud and Slim. The two men begin to realize that she will not say yes to one while the other is also waiting for her answer, so they decide that one must go away and leave the field clear for the other. They agree to leave their fate to the cards, the one drawing the first Jack to go away. They call in a companion to deal and explain the situation. Nell enters at this moment and bearing the agreement, decides to take a hand herself, and proposes to the men that she deal the cards. This is agreed to, and not wishing to have Bud go away, she deals Slim a jack from the bottom of the deck. Slim takes his medicine like a man and goes out. Nell sends Bud after him when she is confronted by the third man and accused of cheating. But when she explains to him that Bud is the man she really loves, he admits her right to dispose of her love as she sees fit and promises silence. Bud returns and presses Nell for her answer. Needless to say she yields and the lovers are happy.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 22 April 1911, page ?] In this tale of gambling den and mining camp, we have an element not usually seen in such stories, a sort of Sunday School attachment which seems to indicate that even gamblers and miners may be glad to come to Sunday School when there is a pretty girl mixed up in the proceedings. When one man doesn't like his neighbor’s “golden text,” he pulls a gun on him and makes him sit down. Of course a love story develops; and when the problem of disposing of two men that she might accept the third arises, it is successfully solved by a card deal with a trick in it; it’s the Sunday School teacher’s trick, too. That is why it is named “Nell’s Last Deal.” However this may be, the matter is satisfactorily settled and the girl gets the man she wants. Whether it is wholly desirable to mingle mining and gambling with Sunday Schools and Bibles, is perhaps best left to the audience to decide for itself. It may be pointed out, though, that there is a certain degree of danger in this combination which, under some circumstances, might cause difficulty. Anything which savors of religion must be introduced with extreme care and probably a considerable proportion of the thinking members of an audience will agree that these suggestions do not add strength to a picture of this character.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 3 June 2024.
References: LoC-MoPic-1 p. 40; Sloan-Loud pp. 56, 150 : Website-IMDb.
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