The Shadowgraph Message - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Howard Ward, handwriting expert, succeeds in having Blackwell convicted of forgery by means of flashing the forged signature and specimens of the prisoner's handwriting on the wall before the jury by a small projecting machine, the ...See moreHoward Ward, handwriting expert, succeeds in having Blackwell convicted of forgery by means of flashing the forged signature and specimens of the prisoner's handwriting on the wall before the jury by a small projecting machine, the courtroom being darkened for the purpose. Blackwell is sentenced to twenty years, and before being led away he springs before Ward and swears to square accounts with him. On the way to the penitentiary there is an automobile accident and Blackwell escapes. He makes his way back to the town in which Ward lives. On the night of his return, Ward and his wife are spending the evening with friends, and Jean Cardova, Ward's deaf and dumb assistant, is in charge of the Ward's little girl, Hilda. He has been amusing Hilda by throwing pictures on the wall with his projecting machine until the nurse comes to put her to bed. The nurse then goes out for the evening and Jean sits in the bedroom next the nursery reading. Blackwell enters Ward's home through a window and makes his way upstairs to the bedroom. He binds Jean and throws him behind the curtains in the bedroom, then conceals himself behind the curtains of the crib in the nursery. At the friends' house, Mrs. Ward becomes uneasy and persuades her husband to take her home. They make their way to the bedroom, but find everything apparently all right. Mrs. Ward then goes to the nursery. She is confronted by Blackwell, who tells her he will shoot the baby if she screams, and she is frightened into unconsciousness. Jean manages to free himself of his bonds, and as Ward stands in the upper hallway he flashes a warning, by means of the machine. "BACK, BURGLAR IN NURSERY. GET GUN. COME BY WINDOW." Ward runs swiftly downstairs, secures a gun, climbs a pillar to an exterior nursery window and shoots Blackwell. Blackwell is only injured but in a struggle between him and Jean he is killed. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less