Love Laughs at Locksmiths; an 18th Century Romance (1908)
This love story of the 18th century opens in the office of an English vintner. The head clerk, a crabby-looking middle-aged man, is making up his accounts in a ledger, while his companion, a youth of 18 or 19, is writing out labels for bottles. The clerk falls in a daze over his books. The young man notices the approach of his employer's daughter, who, by the way, is his sweetheart, and the young people concoct a scheme to annoy the sleeping clerk. They attach a large fly to the end of a fish line and proceed to dangle it over the nose of the bookkeeper. He partially awakens, and slaps at the insect several times. In his efforts to kill the fly a bottle of ink is upset, and that finally arouses him. He mops up the ink, resumes his work, but again dozes off. Once more the fish line is brought out. This time the jokers catch the clerk's wig on the hook, pulling it off. In doing so the young man overbalances himself and falls to the floor, awakening the sleeper and exposing the joke. In the vintner's parlor the proprietor and a wealthy brewer are in earnest conversation. The last named takes from his pocket a legal looking document, which proves to be a marriage contract between the brewer and the wine dealer's daughter. It is evidently mutually satisfactory. The vintner summons his clerk, who is dispatched for the daughter. He finds her in company with the young clerk of our first scene, and without molesting the lovers, the clerk returns to his master, to whom he tells of the girl's whereabouts. The father is furious, comes upon the lovers, beats the young man, and kicks him out of the yard. The daughter is brought to the house and presented to her prospective husband. She rebels at the union, and not yielding to her father's persuasions, is given a whipping and placed in a wine vault on a bread and water diet. Her lover in some manner locates her prison and manages to slip her a note of encouragement. Biding his time, the young man secretes himself in a barrel, which is rolled into the vault by two men. After they leave, the young man emerges from the barrel, the two lovers embrace and a plan for escape is quickly made. When the old clerk comes with more bread and water for the prisoner, he is tripped up, and before he can intercept them the lovers escape. They make their way to the yard of an inn, mount a horse already saddled, and dash out of the gate. A moment later the father, his clerk and the brewer come upon the scene. A coach is brought out and the three men start in pursuit of the eloping couple.
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GenresRomance
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| J. Stuart Blackton | Director |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Florence Lawrence |
