Heart Beats (1915)
On the night of a masque ball, Policeman Moriarty witnesses, silhouetted on the window curtain of a rear room in Frank Middleton's house, the murder of Middleton himself, by a tall figure costumed as the Devil. He had also just seen the shadows of Middleton and a young woman on the curtain, the latter struggling to defend herself from his embrace. Moriarty summons help, and the policemen, under the direction of Lee, the chief of the detective force, arrests all the guests. Lee also finds on the table of Middleton's room a diary, a woman's handkerchief, and a bunch of keys. Trying the keys in one door after another, he at last brings to light a beautiful girl who weeps but will tell nothing. He takes her to the police station, where already the other guests are awaiting examination. There Lee sets an electric lamp on the floor and with Moriarty at his elbow reviews in silhouette on the wall all the guests as they pass the lamp. Floyd Parker, who is dressed as Mephistopheles, is called aside, then Edwin Hurlburt, whose cupid bow, in silhouette, resembles a devil's horns. Lee brings out the "heart-throb machine" and tests by means of written words on a blackboard both the suspected men. Parker is tried first. The heart throb register runs evenly. "Hurlburt, you killed Middleton," writes Lee, and the machine registers wildly. Suddenly, at the detective's signal, a door is opened and the girl runs into the room. Seeing Hurlburt in an attitude of supplication, she exclaims, "It was not his fault. The scoundrel trapped me." Lee draws from his pocket the diary he has found on the table in Middleton's room. He reads to himself the last entry: "Wealth buys everything. Even little Janet, Hurlburt's fiancée, met me in my rooms tonight to save his business from my mortgage. She must pay my price." Then he tries the girl with the heart-throb machine and she bursts into a storm of weeping. Hurlburt springs forward and throwing his arms about her, confesses. He had killed Middleton to save her honor. Lee closes the machine. "It was justifiable homicide," he says.
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GenresCrime
Drama
Romance
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| John G. Adolfi | Director |
| John B. Campbell | Writer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Sam De Grasse | |
| Francelia Billington | |
| Frank Bennett | |
| F.A. Turner |
