(James Young, US 1917, 70 min., 35mm)
Chicago-based film studio Essanay (a wordplay on the initials of the two co-owners, George K. Spoor and Gilbert M. Anderson, or “S & A”) is know today primarily for its successful run of “Broncho” Billy Anderson westerns and as the home for Charlie Chaplin in 1915. This late Essanay product, however—a tense courtroom drama—reveals little-seen depth to the studio’s output. Robert Strickland (Sydney Ainsworth), the self-confessed murderer of Gerald Trask, refuses to defend himself on the witness stand. But his attorney cross-examines Strickland's wife and questions his daughter Doris, exposing the fact that years earlier Trask had seduced Mrs. Strickland. This evidence is sufficient to call for a verdict of not guilty from eleven of the jury, but one juror is still holding out.
Live piano accompaniment by Dr. Philip C. Carli.