Der Hund als Richter

Another of the Vitagraph films shot in Maine during the summer of 1911 and starring Florence Turner, Leo Delaney, and Jean the Vitagraph Dog.

Plot has Turner engaged to nasty old William Humphrey. He and Jean dislike each other. What to do? Then one day Jean runs into Delaney on the beach and they play with each other. But Humphrey wants no part of either one them.

Later, when Delaney goes swimming, he develops a cramp and is drowning. As spectators gather on the beach, only Jean is brave enough to go into the ocean to save him.

The trio of Jean, Florence, and Leo were hugely popular in the early years of film, and audiences especially loved these series of seaside comedies and dramas they made in Maine in 1910 and 1911.

Florence Turner and her trusty friend, Jean the Vitagraph Dog, are sitting disconsolate on the Maine beach, when William Humphries comes by and tries his smooth moves. Miss Turner entertains his wooing. However, when he brings books for them to sit and read, he fails to bring one for Jean. So she goes off and plays with her friend, Leo Delaney. As the plot advances, we discover that Humphries is a selfish, lazy individual. Jean recognizes this, but will Miss Turner before they are wed?

There were a bunch of animal stars in the 1910s. While none of them would compare with the craze that attended Rin-Tin=Tin, Jean was among the most popular, and it's easy to understand why. She was owned by Laurence. Trimble, who directed this movie, and he invariably chose to cast her in movies which are still charming for their rather antique courtships among the humans, always aided by the vivacious Jean.