This, like many Vitagraph films of 1908 exists in a series of synoptic slips eposed with the Copyright Office and now in the possession of the Library of Congress. It is not as good as having the whole film, the clips are played too fast and one of the scenes of this film is out of order but, in combination with the contemporary description, they nonetheless give a fair idea of the film.
Although it is, in a sense a "crime" film, it is really more in the nature of a darma. A young woman is saved from a car accident by an unknown man and is instantly charmed by her rescuer. She is, however, the daughter of a rather high-class burglar and is obliged to assist her father in his work. A burglary has been planned by the gang - there is a second man involved - in which she has her part to play and the house chosen is, by the purest of coincidence, that of the unknown rescuer. It is not a very interesting nor a very original plot, but it is quite attractively shot in several different scenes, exteriors as well as interiors, and the acting is relatively subdued.
What is, I think, interesting to note is the care with which both the contemporary description, and the film itself, define the social condition of the characters. The woman is "attractive and neatly dressed"; the man is invariably described as "a gentleman". The burglars whom we meet so briefly are "one, middle-aged, with hard but intelligent face; his companion, younger and more cunning than intellectual". It is apparently normal for "a gentleman" to order his wife to bed when the clock strikes midnight. She, "woman-like", jumps to the wrong conclusions when she catches her husband in conversation with the burglaress. All this is somewhat caricature but it is surprisingly meticulous. The woman must of course pay "the penalty of her wrong-doing" but, being attractive rather than "hard" or "cunning", is generously treated by the man and his wife (evidently matters have been "squared") on her release. It is not naturalism by any manner of means but there is a genuine, if faintly ridiculous, attention to social context.
Although it is, in a sense a "crime" film, it is really more in the nature of a darma. A young woman is saved from a car accident by an unknown man and is instantly charmed by her rescuer. She is, however, the daughter of a rather high-class burglar and is obliged to assist her father in his work. A burglary has been planned by the gang - there is a second man involved - in which she has her part to play and the house chosen is, by the purest of coincidence, that of the unknown rescuer. It is not a very interesting nor a very original plot, but it is quite attractively shot in several different scenes, exteriors as well as interiors, and the acting is relatively subdued.
What is, I think, interesting to note is the care with which both the contemporary description, and the film itself, define the social condition of the characters. The woman is "attractive and neatly dressed"; the man is invariably described as "a gentleman". The burglars whom we meet so briefly are "one, middle-aged, with hard but intelligent face; his companion, younger and more cunning than intellectual". It is apparently normal for "a gentleman" to order his wife to bed when the clock strikes midnight. She, "woman-like", jumps to the wrong conclusions when she catches her husband in conversation with the burglaress. All this is somewhat caricature but it is surprisingly meticulous. The woman must of course pay "the penalty of her wrong-doing" but, being attractive rather than "hard" or "cunning", is generously treated by the man and his wife (evidently matters have been "squared") on her release. It is not naturalism by any manner of means but there is a genuine, if faintly ridiculous, attention to social context.