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The Iron Mitt
(1916) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Jack Dillon (John Francis Dillon)
Cast: Ben Turpin [Bloggie], Paddy McQuire (Paddy McGuire) [Bungling Bill], Jack Gaines [The Iron Saw], Ed Laurie (Edward J. Laurie) [Montmorency Jones], Rena Rogers [Jones’ daughter], Arthur Moon [the detective]
Vogue Films, Incorporated, production; distributed by Mutual Film Corporation. / Scenario by Robert A. Dillon. / Released [?] 25 June or 1 July? 1916. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / A parody of Jack London’s The Iron Heel.
Comedy.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Montmorency Jones, a multi-billionaire, receives a warning from the Iron Saw, which states that unless the Octopus fifty-fifties his fortune, and lets his evil pursuer marry his daughter, he can expect naught but vengeance from the Iron Saw. Frightened, the billionaire confides in his daughter’s sweetheart, Moon, who is a young detective. He swears he will capture the Iron Saw, and with this purpose in view he leaves the house. Jones and his daughter, Rena, then go to collect rents from their property, and while receiving them from the janitor in the hallway of a dingy building they own, they hear a fight in a room. This fight is taking place between Bill and Bloggie, who are washing and playing solitaire respectively. Jones, incensed because he got the worst of it from Bloggie, orders him off the premises and turns him out homeless in a cold, cruel world. Bloggie swears he will revenge himself, and when Moon is chasing the Iron Saw and his tools, Bloggie steals a bottle of fluid which he thinks is whiskey, and drinks it. This fluid is what has caused the Iron Saw to change his hand into so deadly a weapon, and taking like effect on Bloggie, he resolves to use his transformed hand in wreaking vengeance on Jones. He gets into the house to learn that Bungling Bill has been hired as a butler to protect Jones. Underneath the dining room table Bloggie performs while Jones and Rena are at dinner, with Bill getting the worst of it. The Iron Saw escapes from Moon, and comes to the house after Bloggie has been discovered. Seeking refuge in Jones’ bedroom, Bloggie saws off the combination lock and hides in the safe. Bill finds the fluid, thinking it is whiskey, drinks some, only to have Bloggie lose his deadly weapon and Bill assumes it. Bill is thrown in the safe, and with his iron saw starts to saw his way out through the back, when the original Iron Saw gets the fluid and drinks it, with the result that Bungling Bill’s hand is caught in the crack of the safe he has been sawing. Events follow in which the safe has to be dynamited by the police to release Bill’'s hand. While preparing to do this, they decide to throw Bloggie in that he might experience the rising sensation of being dynamited. The safe is blown up, but the two lovable rogues escape with only bruised anatomies and tattered clothes, while the Iron Saw is captured. Bill and Bloggie are seen speeding away in the distance.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 30 October 2022.
References: Spehr-American p. 598 : Website-IMDb.
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