The Suburbanite
Filmed in Asbury Park, NJ, and the studio on 21 and 22 October 1904, by A. E.
Weed. Biograph production no. 2975. Paper Print copyrighted 11 November 1904.
Copyrighted as a Dramatic Composition, on 25 November 1904, by the American
Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Author: Frank J. Marion. Document actually
received for registration was a copy of the Biograph advertising bulletin for
the film. First American copyright of a motion picture scenario.
"Biograph sued the Edison Company for copyright infringement [when Edison
filmed a remake of Biograph's film "Personal"] but failed to gain an
injunction and lost its case both in the lower courts and on appeal. Biograph
had copyrighted the film as photographs, but the judges ruled that this
measure only prevented duplication of the actual image and did not protect the
subject matter or story. For many months afterward, Biograph copyrighted its
story films as both dramatic productions and photographs." -- Charles Musser,
The Emergence of Cinema (Scribner's, 1990)
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[Front page of advertising bulletin:]
FORM NO. 1148 BULLETIN No. 37, Nov. 28, 1904
THE SUBURBANITE
Copyright 1904, both as a Picture and as a Play, by
The American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.
A Comedy Production in Seven Scenes
Wherein are Shown the Trials and Tribulations
of a City Man Who is Enticed From His Cozy
Flat by the Real Estate Agent o o o o o
MOVING IN
"Why Pay Rent in the City ?"
"Own a Sweet Little Home in the Country"
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LENGTH 718 FEET
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Produced and Controlled Exclusively by the
American Mutoscope & Biograph Co.
11 East 14th Street, New York City.
[page 2]
THE SUBURBANITE
SYNOPSIS
1ST SCENE The arrival of Mr. Cityman and his family at the new home in the
Suburbs.
2ND SCENE The truckman arrives with the household furnishings and breaks many
articles in removing them from the van to the house.
3RD SCENE The children neatly attired are sent out doors to play and quickly
become covered with dirt and mud.
4TH SCENE Mr. Cityman with his arms full of bundles brings home from town a
new cook.
5TH SCENE Mr. Cityman runs to catch the morning train to the city but just
misses it.
6TH SCENE Mr. Cityman's mother-in-law comes for a visit and gets into a
quarrel with the cook who becomes so violent that five policemen are
called to eject her.
7TH SCENE Disheartened by his experiences Mr. Cityman places a sign on the
house "To Let, Furnished" and moves out with his family.
CHARACTERS
Mr. Cityman. Mrs. Cityman.
His Mother-in-law. His Four Children.
Two Truckmen. Five Policemen.
The Hired man. The Cook.
The outdoor scenes are laid in a typical suburban village or city,
and the interior scenes represent the sitting-room and
kitchen of a typical suburban residence
[page 3]
THE SUBURBANITE
A PLAY IN MOTION PICTURES
The opening scene shows a street in a suburban town, as shown by the
illustration on the front of this bulletin. Mr. Cityman and his family,
carrying valises, bundles, etc., come down the sidewalk and go into the house.
They view the new home with evident delight. Soon, in the second scene, a
furniture van is drawn up. It is heavily loaded; a number of articles being
fastened by ropes at the rear. The furniture falls to the sidewalk with a
crash. Mr. Cityman and his wife rush out of the house and expostulate with the
van driver. Their protests do no good however, for one of the vanmen soon
after attempts to carry a basket of crockery into the house, but stumbles and
drops it, and practically everything in the basket is broken. Mr. Cityman is
now thoroughly enraged and berates the vanmen. They retaliate by hurling the
remainder of the furniture out of the van.
In the third scene Mrs. Cityman brings her three little children from the
house, all prettily dressed in white, and tells them to play in the yard. This
scene dissolves into a second part supposed to occur half an hour later.
The children are playing at making mud pies, and their hands and faces and
clothing are covered with mud. The mother is thoroughly provoked at their
mischief, and after shaking them, by way of punishment, carries them into the
house.
The fourth scene shows Mr. Cityman arriving with a new cook. He is laden with
bundles, tennis racquets, etc. and draws a lawn-mower. His arrival is greeted
by the family with great rejoicing.
Next, in the fifth scene, we see a suburban railroad station. A train is just
pulling out and Mr. Cityman, all breathless from running, appears. He makes a
desperate effort to catch the train, but stumbles and falls. The train leaves
without him.
In the sixth scene Mr. Cityman's mother-in-law has arrived for a visit. She
goes into the kitchen to brew a cup of tea for herself. The cook resents her
intrusion and drives the mother-in-law from the kitchen, using a frying pan as
a weapon. The scene then transfers to the parlor. The mother-in-law runs in
pursuit as far as the door, and protests to Mrs. Cityman against the
indignity. Mrs. Cityman sends her husband to reprove the cook, and the scene
changes to the kitchen where the cook is seen forcibly ejecting Mr. Cityman
from the room. A hired man then comes in, but the cook standing on a chair
near the door, hits him on the head with a skillet and he falls insensihle to
the floor. The cook frightened at the consequence of her deed, goes to the
kitchen table and bows her head on her hands. As she does so she upsets a tray
full of dishes which fall to the foor and are for the most part smashed. At
this juncture, a roundsman and four policeman burst in and, after an exciting
struggle, succeed in dragging the cook out of the room.
In the seventh and final scene Mr. Cityman is seen coming out of the front
door of the house and nailing to the verandah rail a large sign which reads,
"TO LET, FURNISHED" He then goes back into the house, but quickly returns,
followed by his entire family with their bundles and valises, and all pass
sorrowfully down the street toward the station.
[Source: Biograph Bulletins 1896-1908, compiled by Kemp R. Niver, edited by
Bebe Bergsten (Artisan Press, 1971), pp. 136-138.]