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  • The Life Guard (1915)
  • Short | Short, Comedy
Primary photo for The Life Guard
The Life Guard (1915)
Short | Short, Comedy
Billie is no captain of industry. He is merely a low private in the ranks of the hod carriers. But on his way to work one morning he sees a life-saver bring a little girl to shore and get as much as he could earn in five hundred hours of ...See moreBillie is no captain of industry. He is merely a low private in the ranks of the hod carriers. But on his way to work one morning he sees a life-saver bring a little girl to shore and get as much as he could earn in five hundred hours of hard work on the ladders. It doesn't seem that he is putting in his time to the best advantage. The idea crystallizes when he passes the life saver's house and sees the patrol's jersey hanging on the line. Billie gathers it in without waiting for the trousers to be hung out and down on the beach he goes into business as an independent hero. Business is a bit slack and he tries to build up a little trade by rescuing people who really do not care to he saved. The rushes are spectacular, but people grow peevish when they are saved against their wills, and Billie gets plenty of black and blue spots but not enough money to pay his fare half a block in a jitney bus. Once he thinks he is in sight of a live one when an old gentleman gives a valet a few thousand dollars to take care of while he takes a dip in the surf. Billie gets a rock but the valet has a gun and Billie changes his mind. But there is the old man out in the surf and Billie still has the rock. He bowls the old man over, then saves him with a fine display of heroism. This should be worth a couple of hundred at the very least, but Billie doesn't know that the more money people have the tighter they hold onto it. When he suggests that he should have some money, the old gentleman suggests that the city pays him. Bill decides that there is no money in life saving and quits the job, to take a nap. Out in the surf a girl is really drowning, but Billie doesn't care. He has retired from business. A real life saver goes to the rescue and gets the money. Then Billie gets a shock when he sees the guard he stole the jersey from. Between the guard and his irate wife and the crowd angry at Bill's indifference, it looks pretty bad for him, but his native wit wins him through and he passes back to the brick pile reflecting that twenty cents an hour that you get is better than a couple of hundred that you don't. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
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Director
Arthur Hotaling (as Arthur D. Hotaling)
Writer
E.W. Sargent (scenario) (as Epes W. Sargent)
Producer
Siegmund Lubin
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Aug 21, 1915
Release date
Aug 21, 1915 (United States)

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4 cast members
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