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A Shadow of the Past
(1913) United States of America
B&W : Two reels
Directed by [?] Thomas H. Ince and/or Francis Ford?
Cast: Richard Stanton [Bill, the thief], Anna Little (Ann Little) [Gertrude, Bill’s wife], J. Barney Sherry [Colonel Boyd], Mildred Harris [Mildred, the child]
New York Motion Picture Company production; distributed by Mutual Film Corporation [Broncho]. / Produced by Thomas H. Ince. Scenario by C. Gardner Sullivan. / Released 22 January 1913. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? The wife of a Raffles, a dress-suit thief, who makes an occasional haul at social gatherings, witnesses the arrest of her husband when he is followed home by detectives and caught with the goods. She is overwhelmed with shame upon his acknowledgment of guilt and subsequently humiliated by her neighbors. She finds relief in an opportunity to teach school in the Far West and there begins a new life. Among her pupils is the little son of a widowed military officer stationed at a nearby post. The father of the little boy becomes interested in the girlish-looking school mistress and finally asks her to become his wife. It is at this point that the current of her thoughts is shown by double exposure. Her mind reverts to the imprisoned man she promised to love, exhibiting her loyalty and tenderness of heart. The thief does not escape from jail, but he enters upon a violent struggle when being carried to a distant point in the Far West to give testimony relating to a more important criminal, and jumps from the train while it is going at full speed. He is seen rolling down into a gully and is soon after announced as dead. He is in truth revived by some friendly Indians and becomes one of their number, acting as their interpreter in dealing with military forces near their reservation. The school mistress sees the announcement of his death and weds the officer whose little child she has been teaching. In the course of time the thief, now a renegade Indian, comes to parley with the military men in relation to a treaty violation, and the officer’s wife recognizes the man she believed to be dead, though she is not seen by him. She is overcome, but does not confess to the officer she has married in good faith. Troops are drawn from the post to the protection of a body of white invaders, and the place falls into the hands of the Indians after a fierce engagement. They murder or torture the helpless inmates until the renegade comes suddenly upon his own wife and the officer’s child. In a saving moment he defends her against the redskins, holding them at bay until the troopers return. He spares her and the child, but is shot in trying to escape, killed by the officer whose family he protected.
Survival status: Print exists in the Library of Congress film archive (American Film Institute collection).
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 31 May 2020.
References: Tarbox-Lost pp. 82, 279 : ClasIm-224 p. 42 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.
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