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  • Fighting Death (1914)
  • Short | 36 min | Short, Drama
Fighting Death (1914)
Short | 36 min | Short, Drama
Clara, a pretty little school teacher, is courted by two young mountaineers. She favors Jim Mason, who is the postmaster of the village, and Harry Barford, his rival, determines to get Jim out of the way, so that he can win her. Jim and ...See moreClara, a pretty little school teacher, is courted by two young mountaineers. She favors Jim Mason, who is the postmaster of the village, and Harry Barford, his rival, determines to get Jim out of the way, so that he can win her. Jim and Clara decide to marry as soon as Jim has enough money. Harry sees his chance and offers Jim $500 to manage an illicit whiskey still during his absence. Clara's scruples are overcome by the thought of an early marriage and Jim reluctantly consents. Harry immediately informs the sheriff and a posse is sent to arrest Jim. But Billy, the village idiot, who has fallen asleep while playing his little tin flute, overhears the conversation between Harry and the sheriff and informs Clara of Jim's danger. Jim hides in the woods upon the approach of the posse and, meeting Clara, they flee, both riding on the same horse. A long chase through the snow-covered mountains in which they are closely pressed by the sheriff's posse, forces them to a spot among the jagged cliffs, where their only means of escaping their pursuers is a fifty-eight foot plunge into a raging torrent full of broken ice. They urge their horse over the edge of the cliff and plunge to the depths below miraculously escaping with their lives and safely reaching the shore. They take refuge in an Indian village and the chief, a giant Indian over seven feet tall, appoints himself a committee of one to compel the little fat parson to marry them. Clara returns to the village and Jim goes to New York to prepare a home for her. Barford is appointed postmaster and succeeds in intercepting Jim's mail, meanwhile forcing his attentions upon Jim's wife. Not hearing from Clara, Jim decides to take a desperate chance and return to the village by a dangerous route, which will enable him to elude the guardians of the law. In order to do this he is forced to walk hand over hand across a cable 250 feet long, placed by a lumber company over a deep ravine. Arriving at Clara's house he finds her in the arms of Barford, not knowing he has forcibly placed his arms around her. Jim leaves broken-hearted and is seen by Barford, who follows him at a distance. As Jim is re-crossing the 250 feet of cable, Barford shoots him in the arm, in spite of which he succeeds in escaping and returns to New York. A baby is born to Clara, and she determines to find Jim at all costs and tell him that he is a proud father. She goes to New York, and being in need of money, accepts the offer of a motion picture company to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge for $10,000. Jim, who is desperate and out of work, accepts the offer of the same company to also make the leap, and is horror-struck by recognizing his wife, just as she throws herself from the giant structure into the icy waters below. He leaps after her and succeeds in aiding her to reach a tug-boat, where she rests happily in her lost husband's arms. They make a new attempt to get possession of their baby, but are caught in their cabin by Barford and the posse, where a fierce fight is interrupted by a misdirected blow, which fells the poor village fool, Billy. He is revived and it is discovered that the blow has restored his sanity. He tells of Harford's villainy and produces evidence that brands him as the real criminal and leaves Jim and Clara free to enjoy each other's love. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
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Director
Herbert Blaché
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Apr 10, 1914
Release date
Apr 10, 1914 (United States)

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3 cast members
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