A Trap to Catch a Burglar (1913)

Mr. and Mrs. Miniver's servant Bedelia is a suffragist. Mrs. Miniver gets into an argument with her husband on women's right and Bedelia butts in and sides with the mistress, taking particular exception to Mr. Miniver's dictum that a woman has no inventive genius. A number of burglaries have been committed in the neighborhood and Miniver, being called away on business, purchases a patent burglar alarm for his wife to set in his absence. Anxious to show the inventive genius of her sex, Bedelia proposes to her mistress that they shall invent a trap that will catch the burglar. They get an old skirt of strong materials, sew it together at the top, put a barrel hoop around the bottom, weight it with flat irons and suspend it from the ceiling over the front hall door by a rope and pulley, so that when the front door is opened, it will descend and fall over the burglar like an extinguisher, putting him down and out. They carry out their plan. Mr. Miniver misses his train and returns to his home at 2:30 A.M., drenching wet. He lets himself in with his latchkey, starts the burglar alarm, and brings the "trap" over his head and gets entangled in it. When the village constable, who has been phoned for by Mrs. Miniver, arrives, he finds the burglar is the head of the house. Miniver discharges Bedelia.

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Summary Details
GenresComedy Short
FilmmakersRole
Van Dyke Brooke Director
CastRole
Hughie Mack
Kate Price
Flora Finch
Robert McWade Sr.