The Maniac Cook (1909)
With the family of Mr. Holland there is employed a cook who has hitherto proved herself to be an honest, faithful and willing domestic. This evening, the little family, comprising Mr. and Mrs. Holland and their infant child, through dinner, leave Margie, the cook, in the kitchen finishing up her work. She is working about the room in an apparently light-hearted mood, when suddenly there comes a change over her, her usually pleasant countenance taking on a demoniac expression. She tries to shake off the strange feeling that has come over her, but in vain, with her hands to her head. At this moment Mrs. Holland enters, and Margie, In wild frenzy, leaps at her throat. Her screams bring Mr. Holland and they succeed in over powering Margie and tying her to a chair. They go and telephone the police. Meanwhile, the cook, with supernatural effort, breaks from the chair and dashes out of the kitchen door, and with a fiend's cunning takes the key with her. So when Holland returns he finds the cook gone and therefore dismisses the policeman. Discovering the key gone he barricades the door, but they have hardly retired when the cook forces her way in. Picking up a butcher's cleaver she makes her way stealthily through the house. Coming to the bedroom, her first impulse is to behead the sleeping forms of Mr. and Mrs. Holland, but a more fiendish idea strikes her as she sees the infant's cap. Going to the baby's crib, she gags it with a cloth and takes it to the kitchen, places it in the oven of the range, and proceeds to build a fire. In this she is interrupted by Mrs. Holland, who has come to get some hot water for her husband to relieve a sudden attack of indigestion, so she hides. Mr. Holland finds relief in a drink of whiskey, and follows to tell his wife to never mind. Mrs. Holland has already started the fire. As Holland enters, the cook pounces upon him and in the struggle they jar the oven door open, disclosing the baby's peril. The policeman, who have been searching the neighborhood, are attracted by the screams of Mrs. Holland and take the cook in charge, and baby is rescued from her precarious position none the worse off for her experience.
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| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| D.W. Griffith | Director |
| D.W. Griffith | Writer |
| G.W. Bitzer | Cinematographer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Anita Hendrie | |
| Marion Leonard | |
| Harry Solter | |
| Clara T. Bracy |
