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Charles West and Blanche Sweet.
Frame enlargement: Silent Era image collection.
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The Last Drop of Water
(1911) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by D.W. Griffith
Cast: Blanche Sweet [Mary], Charles H. West [Jim], Joseph Graybill [John], Francis J. Grandon [John’s friend; and in the wagon train], Robert Harron [in the wagon train], Kate Bruce [in the wagon train], Alfred Paget [in the wagon train; and an Indian], Jeanie Macpherson [in the wagon train], Gladys Egan [in the wagon train], Guy Hedlund [in the wagon train], Frank Opperman [in the wagon train], W.C. Robinson [in the wagon train], Kate Toncray [in the wagon train], Jack Dillon (John T. Dillon) [a cavalry officer], Linda Arvidson, William J. Butler, Dell Henderson, W. Chrystie Miller
Biograph Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Scenario by Stanner E.V. Taylor, from a screen story by Bret Harte. Cinematography by G.W. Bitzer. / Released 27 July 1911. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film was rereleased in the USA by The General Film Company, Incorporated, in 1915.
Drama: Western.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Jim and John, long-time friends, are the suitors for the hand of Mary. Jim is a chap of exemplary qualities, while John is a weakling and given to drink. Fate has it so that Mary accepts John. After their marriage they start off across the plains for more promising lands, Jim going along as one of the party. On the way over the Great Desert, they are beset by hostile Indians. The fate of the party of tourists hangs in the balance for a long time as they are enclosed in a stockade formed by the wagons, repelling the Indians until the supply of water gives out and death from thirst seems inevitable. A call for volunteers to get water is made. Jim and John both go in its quest. Jim has given his last drop to a feeble old man as he leaves the stockade, while John, meeting Jim perishing with thirst on the desert, gives up to him the last drop between life and death. This draught renews the strength of Jim, who finally succeeds in finding water, while John drops in the sand, a victim of his sacrifice. Meanwhile the troops have been notified and the party is rescued from the besieging redskins.
Survival status: Print exists.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 19 December 2024.
References: Barry-Griffith p. 42; Drew-Speaking pp. 220, 222, 285; Everson-American p. 47; Fell-History p. 90; Lee-Not p. 116; Spehr-American p. 2 : Website-IMDb.
Home video: DVD.
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