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Be Neutral
Also known as {Be Natural}
(1914) United States of America
B&W : Split-reel
Directed by Francis Ford
Cast: Francis Ford, Grace Cunard, Lloyd Ingraham, Murdock MacQuarrie, Edna Maison, Joe King
Powers Picture Plays production; distributed by The Universal Film Manufacturing Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Pat Powers. Scenario by Jack Cunningham. / Released 25 September 1914; in a split-reel with Our Land of Gold (1914). / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Two old men stand talking before a cottage. In the background two younger men bid their wives good-bye and start for work. Up the block, before a bank, a crowd stands gazing at a large map of the war zone, each discussing the situation according to his own views. Later, in front of a factory, the two young men join other workers. Here an argument is going on, and the two young men take sides and enter the discussion. High words follow, which quickly lead to blows. The fight attracts the attention of a worker within the factory, who leaves his hot iron and gazes from the window at the fight below. Seeing his faction in trouble, the worker hurries to join the belligerents. The neglected hot iron sears its way into the garment beneath it, the result being a fire which soon gains headway. The fighting men below surge from the factory alley into the street. A policeman, finding himself unable to cope with the mob, sends in a riot call. The reserves respond, and many in the mob are injured. Innocent spectators suffer and are injured. The fire department responds to an alarm sent from the burning factory, but its efforts are in vain and the factory is consumed. The finale of the picture fades into a vision, in which the two old men. the innocent agitators, see the wives of the two young men as they stand by their husbands bemoaning the fact that a trifling argument resulted in such a catastrophe.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 7 April 2020.
References: Stedman-Serials p. 40 : ClasIm-224 p. 43 : Website-IMDb.
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