The Lonedale Operator (1911)

When her father becomes ill, a young woman takes over the telegraph at a lonely western railroad station. She soon gets word that the next train will deliver the payroll for a mining ... See full summary »

Stars:

Verner Clarges, Guy Hedlund, Jeanie Macpherson

Cast

Credited cast:
Verner Clarges	...	In Payroll Office
Guy Hedlund	...	On Train
Jeanie Macpherson	...	In Payroll Office
W.C. Robinson	...	In Payroll Office

Storyline

When her father becomes ill, a young woman takes over the telegraph at a lonely western railroad station. She soon gets word that the next train will deliver the payroll for a mining company. The train brings not only the money, but a pair of ruffians bent on stealing it. All alone, she wires for help, and then holds off the bad guys until it arrives.

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Plot Keywords:

train | payroll | telegraph | daughter | thief | 

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Genres:

Short | Drama | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 1911 (USA)

Also Known As:

A lonedale-i távírászlány

Filming Locations:

Inglewood, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Biograph Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

17 min 17 min

Sound Mix:

Silent

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the 50 films in the 4-disk boxed DVD set called "Treasures from American Film Archives (2000)", compiled by the National Film Preservation Foundation from 18 American film archives. This film was preserved by the Museum of Modern Art. This version has a piano music score and runs 17 minutes.

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Goofs

Since the movie was shot on an open-air set, the wind blows the paper's on the desk in the office as well as the clothes of the actors and Blanche Sweet's hair.

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Connections

Featured in Historia del cine: Epoca muda (1983)

User Reviews

Blanche Sweet is incredible in a good Griffith-directed Biograph.

Wow. It's hard to believe that Miss Blanche Sweet was fifteen when she was directed by the great D.W. Griffith in this Biograph production from 1911. Blanche, at such an early age, was not only extremely mature in terms her physique and baring, she was a remarkably accomplished actress. Her naturalistic acting translates well with modern audiences (at leased with all my friends to whom I've shown this movie). This film is a good one, suspenceful and atmospheric, but it's definatly not the best of Griffith's Biographs. It ranks pretty highly with the other work of his that I've seen. It is certainly aided by Sweet's performance, and also helpful the exemplary early use of "montage" which Griffith had been putting to use in his films as early as 1909. For a peak at what a great man like Griffith was doing before he made The Birth of a Nation (1915), Intolerance (1916) and Way Down East (1920), this is certainly one to take a good look or two at, just to get a peak at what the future had in store for cinema history.