The Toymaker, the Doll and the Devil (1910)
There is a maker of lay-figures, a gay old party who half falls in love with his own creations of pretty women and gay soubrettes. He has a son who follows in his father's footsteps. There is a young apprentice with ambitions for the stage, who is very much in love with an orphan ward of his employer. The ward is unwillingly betrothed to the good-for-nothing son. The old man has built a wonderful soubrette figure which it is his ambition to imbue with life. Then comes a fancy dress ball, which all the town people attend. The old man and his son dress themselves up and join the revelry. The little ward has nothing to wear and cannot go, until the apprentice suddenly conceives the brilliant idea of borrowing the clothes from the beautiful soubrette figure and dressing his sweetheart in them. When the old toy-maker sees her at the ball, accompanied by the young man dressed as Mephistopheles, he is convinced that he sees his own creation and the Devil. Rushing frantically from the ball, he hastens home to see if it can be true. The young people, preceding him, have no time to resume their own clothes or restore the doll to its position, so the girl takes the doll's place while the young man hides himself up the chimney. The old man and his son come in and try to induce the doll to again assume life and motion. They perform all sorts of tricks with her and the girl plays the part of the doll well enough to fool them utterly. Disgusted with their failure, they build a fire and decide to warm up a hot toddy to soothe their discouraged feelings. The young man above, smoked out by the fire, impersonates the Devil, and makes the doll live and dance for the old man on condition that he consent to the marriage of his ward to his apprentice. The old man and his son quarrel over this agreement, and after the girl has put the clothes back upon the doll the son returns and smashes it to atoms to get square with his father. In the evening the old man is called upon by his apprentice, who demands the hand of his ward in marriage. When the old man refuses the document, signed by himself, is flashed before him, and then the young man confesses the trick that he had played. He tells the old man that he impersonated the Devil and (not knowing that the son is listening behind him) tells him that the girl, the ward, impersonated the doll. The son is horrified at the thought of having killed the girl he once loved, but the apprentice, understanding the situation more thoroughly, calls the girl from her own room and the young man apparently sees a miracle, the doll-girl, which he had smashed, restored to life! In his joy at his escape from murder he gladly relinquishes all claim to the hand of the ward, and insists upon his father making good his written word.
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GenresComedy
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Edwin S. Porter | Director |
| Bannister Merwin | Writer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Robert Brower | |
| Mabel Trunnelle |
