| SilentHollywood.com |
| ~Pudd'nhead Wilson~ 1916 |
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| ~PW14: Thomas Meighan & Florence Dagmar~ |
| ~PW38: Thomas Meighan~ |
| ~Plot Synopsis~ |
In the pre-Civil War South, lawyer Pudd'nhead Wilson suffers the mockery of the community
because of his obsession with fingerprints. Two of his samples are the infant prints of Tom Driscoll,
the son of a white woman, and Chambers, whose mother is a mulatto nurse. Both boys have the
same father, however, and both are about the same age, and after their birth, Roxy, angry at the
Driscolls, switches them, so that quadroon valet. Then, the false Tom murders his uncle and tries to
blame his valet for the crime. Pudd'nhead defends the accused, and while comparing new fingerprint
samples against the old, discovers the switch that was made years before. He then convinces an
initially skeptical jury to accept the infallibility of fingerprint evidence, after which the real Tom is
restored as the Driscoll heir and the false one goes to jail.
Plot Synopsis from afi.com
because of his obsession with fingerprints. Two of his samples are the infant prints of Tom Driscoll,
the son of a white woman, and Chambers, whose mother is a mulatto nurse. Both boys have the
same father, however, and both are about the same age, and after their birth, Roxy, angry at the
Driscolls, switches them, so that quadroon valet. Then, the false Tom murders his uncle and tries to
blame his valet for the crime. Pudd'nhead defends the accused, and while comparing new fingerprint
samples against the old, discovers the switch that was made years before. He then convinces an
initially skeptical jury to accept the infallibility of fingerprint evidence, after which the real Tom is
restored as the Driscoll heir and the false one goes to jail.
Plot Synopsis from afi.com
| Directed by: Frank Reicher Written by: Margaret Turnbull (scenario) Based on the novel The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain (Hartford, 1894). |
| ~Cast~ Theodore Roberts ...Pudd'nhead Wilson Alan Hale ...Tom Driscoll Thomas Meighan ...Chambers Florence Dagmar ...Rowena Cooper Jane Wolfe ...Roxy (as Jane Wolff) Ernest Joy ...Judge Driscoll Gertrude Kellar ...Mrs. Driscoll |
| ~Remaining Credits~ Production Company: Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company Released by: Paramount Pictures Cinematography by: Walter Stradling Art Direction by: Wilfred Buckland Length: 5 Reels Runtime: 50 Minutes Released: January 31, 1916 |
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Other Links That You Might Find Helpful to you for this film:
imdb.com - Internet Movie Database
allmovie.com - Allmovie.com
tcm.com - Turner Classic Movies
afi.com - American Film Institute
imdb.com - Internet Movie Database
allmovie.com - Allmovie.com
tcm.com - Turner Classic Movies
afi.com - American Film Institute