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The Kiss of Salvation
(1913) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by [?] Robert Goodman?
Cast: Richard Stanton [‘Handsome’ Jack], Mildred Bracken [Molly, the minister’s daughter]
Méliès Star Films [American] production; distributed by [?] The Vitagraph Company of America through The General Film Company, Incorporated? / Produced by Gaston Méliès. / Released 16 January 1913. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? A daring highway robber is terrorizing a western settlement by his depredations. A new minister and his daughter have come to the settlement and the attendance at the little church is augmented by the admiring cowboys. The new minister’s daughter, Molly, goes for a walk one day and “Handsome” Jack, the bandit, caught at last, is about to receive his just deserts at the hands of the indignant cowboys, when sentiment causes them to lose their heads. The minister’s daughter comes upon the scene at the psychological moment. She is asked to give “the pore feller a good-bye kiss, seein’ as he has no one else,” and the bandit makes a daring escape by snatching her gun. The cowboys pursue, but are not successful. “Handsome” Jack, after riding hard, finds himself free and at last dismounts. He thinks long of the sweet girl whose kiss had set him free and decides to live straight for her sake. He writes a letter to the sheriff and sends back the spoils of the hold-up, then obtains employment at a far-away ranch. He makes good and studies hard in his spare moments, applying to his new pursuit the same energy and acumen which had made him a successful bandit. He is admitted to the bar and sets up his small establishment with great pride. His first few cases bring him money, and, having always thought of Molly, he sets out to find her. Late in the afternoon Molly unconsciously wanders to the scene of her romance and absently pulls daisies and winds them into a chain. A light step behind her, and Jack holds her up with her own gun. He returns the gun, then tells her of his love and how the memory of her kiss had made a man of him. She listens, blushing, with downcast eyes. Her shyness bids him hope and he begs her for a kiss. Smiling she turns from him, refusal on her lips, temptation in her eyes. He takes the chain from her fingers, twists it about his neck, noose-like, and makes a mock gesture of hanging. “Now will yon kiss me?” he asks. Her eyes, then her lips meet his and she goes to his arms. // [From Méliès promotional materials] After many depredations, “Handsome” Jack, the bandit, is captured by the cowboys and about to be “strung up,” when the minister’s daughter comes and one of the boys suggests that she “say a prayer for the pore feller and kiss him good-bye.” During that kiss Jack snatches her revolver and makes his escape. But the kiss lingers and inspires Jack to live and work for her. After many years of hard study he becomes a successful lawyer and returns to wed the girl whose kiss gave him Salvation.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 26 December 2024.
References: Thompson-Star p. 232 : Website-IMDb.
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