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The Blood Red Tape of Charity is a american film directed by Edwin August with Edwin August

The Blood Red Tape of Charity (1913)

The Blood Red Tape of Charity
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Length 10minutes
Directed by
OriginUSA

The Blood Red Tape of Charity is a 1913 American silent short drama film written, directed and starring by Edwin August and produced by Pat Powers. August wrote the scenario with the intent to highlight the evils of organized charity while entertaining the viewers. The film focuses on William Weldon, a telegraph lineman who is injured on the job and cannot work for several weeks. The family seeks aid from charity organizations, but "red tape" regulations prevent the family from receiving timely assistance. A gentleman thief named Marx decides to do one last job for the benefit of the family. Marx forces a doctor to treat the Weldon's invalid daughter Alice before proceeding to rob a charity ball's attendees. Marx pawns the stolen articles and saves the family before turning himself into the police.

The film was released on September 26, 1913 and played in theaters throughout the United States. The unbilled cast list has been stated to include Lon Chaney in the role of the pawn broker. The propaganda film was billed as a popular love story by theaters, but the production was the subject of much concern by organized charities. The Charity Organization Societies sought to produce a film to counter the negative portrayal of charities in The Blood Red Tape of Charity. P. L. Whitney stopped short of directly calling the film's portrayal dangerous, but advocated that charity members use the media to highlight the film's faults and exaggerations. Patricia Erens would use the surviving film still of the pawn broker, claimed to be Lon Chaney by scholars, as an example of Jewish character archetypes that were prominent in silent films. The film is now considered lost.

Synopsis

The film's plot survives because of Universal's publication of the details in Moving Picture News. The official description is as follows, "Charity, through excessive organization, often defeats its own purpose. William Weldon, a telegraph lineman, is the father of a large family, and finds it a hard struggle to make ends meet on his small wages. By a fall from a telegraph pole one afternoon he sustains injuries which force a lay-off for several weeks. His family is left destitute and, after a time, seek aid from various charity organizations. In each case the organization promises to make a full investigation and do what they can, but by the time all the red tape and rules are complied with, the family would starve. In the meantime, Marx, a gentleman thief who has a secret retreat in the same building in which the Weldon family live, meets the invalid daughter, Alice Weldon. She tells him of the family's condition and Marx endeavors to aid her, although at the time he is out of ready cash himself. Taking desperate measures, he holds up a doctor and forces him to attend to Weldon. Then, in company with the female leader of the gang, he attends the charity ball. There he makes a haul — plucking jewelry and trinkets from every one with whom he comes in contact. He pawns the stolen articles and uses the money to help the Weldons. After the family has recovered, through Marx's aid, the charity organizations finally send a few dollars and a skimpy supply of food. Marx decides to reform — in fact, his reformation has been intended for some time, and his last "job" was only the outcome of his desire to do a worthy charity. He goes to the police, declares himself, and surrenders. Marx is sentenced, and while sitting in his cell a vision of Alice appeared before him, repaying him for his sacrifice and charity.

Actors

Edwin August

(Marx, a Gentleman Thief)Lon Chaney

(a pawnbroker.)
Trailer of The Blood Red Tape of Charity

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Source : Wikidata

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