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The Miser Miner
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by [?] Gaston Méliès and/or Robert Goodman?
Cast: Francis Ford
G. Méliès production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Gaston Méliès. / Released 16 November 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Comedy-Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [From Méliès promotional materials] When the old miner dies he leaves the secret of his hidden treasure with Lola, a pretty Western girl, to deliver to the rightful heir. Lola’s brother, a ne’er-do-well, learns it and plans to purloin the gold. Meanwhile there has sprung up a tender feeling between Lola and the heir, an Easterner. How the resourceful girls foils her brother, to his own satisfaction in the end, and wins a husband for herself, is the novel plot of this comedy-drama. // [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? An old miner has accumulated great wealth by foreclosing mortgages on the unfortunate, and by oppressing the poor in rents. He leads a lonely life, for all hate him. At length he feels the end coming and calls for help. The only one to respond is Lola, a young and pretty western girl. She makes the old man’s last days comfortable, and before he dies he tells her the secret hiding place of all his gold, that she should tell his nephew and heir when the latter heard of the death. Lola’s brother, Jesse, a ne’er-do-well, gets wind of the hiding place, and plans to steal the treasure. Meanwhile the heir has arrived and there springs up great friendship between him and Lola. She, of course, tells him of the treasure, and they plan to get it together. But Lola suspects her brother, and, dressing up in man’s clothes and donning a mask, she follows him. Having secured the gold he turns about only to meet the supposed bandit who orders his hands up and to go where he directs. The plucky little girl turns the affair into a joke by forcing Jesse to carry the treasure to Ray, the heir’s very door. Then she quickly changes clothes and enters the room. Ray, of course, thanks Jesse for the favor, and Lola secretly shows Jesse the mask and trousers, whereupon he is amazed to learn that his own sister foiled him. He is for losing his temper, but all ends well when Ray takes Lola to wife and gives Jesse a good job.
Reviews: [The Moving Picture World, 2 December 1911, page ?] A situation that seems to be fresh keeps alive interest in this picture; but it can hardly be described as true to life as pictured, and some of it is not clear. The story is of the miser’s gold rather than of the miser himself, who dies in the first act. He had hidden his gold and just before he died had written directions for finding it. He wrote for his nephew to come so that he could give the paper to him. A neighbor, who coveted this treasure, attempted to destroy this letter, but was prevented by a girl. Her relationship to him wasn’t clear and this is the picture’s great weakness. She was his sister, as appeared later. After the nephew had come and had received the paper, the neighbor, looking over his shoulder, understood the directions and attempted to forestall him by removing the hoard. His sister, disguised as a highwayman, compels him to carry it to its rightful owner. This is a hard thing to believe and is not very effective. The picture is not a vital one.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 25 May 2024.
References: Thompson-Star p. 231 : ClasIm-226 p. 55 : Website-IMDb.
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