The Leopard Queen's primary photo
  • The Leopard Queen (1909)
  • Short | Short, Thriller
Primary photo for The Leopard Queen
The Leopard Queen (1909)
Short | Short, Thriller
A story, unique as to pictures, founded on fact and produced with absolute fidelity to nature. A news item in the English edition of the Cairo news (Africa), dated ten years ago, begins this startling series of picture events: British Ship...See moreA story, unique as to pictures, founded on fact and produced with absolute fidelity to nature. A news item in the English edition of the Cairo news (Africa), dated ten years ago, begins this startling series of picture events: British Ship Zanzibar Founders Off East Coast. Frightful fate would await castaways, as the country is uninhabited for hundreds of miles. Then we are shown a raft in mid-ocean bearing the only two survivors of the lost Zanzibar, Capt. Jack Ownes and his daughter Essie. A few hours later we get a glimpse of the African shore line, showing the captain and his daughter both lying senseless where the remorseless waves have tossed them. Five Years Later we see a rude cabin built of grass, mud and brush. The labor of its making has kept the brave captain and his daughter from madness, the utter hopelessness of their being rescued from this desolate region has finally become a settled conviction with them both, so they live as best they can, fighting as primeval man had to fight for food and shelter; the sea has washed ashore from the Zanzibar many things which have helped them in their present situation, the skins of animals protect them from the heavy dews of night, and the captain has learned through necessity to keep their larder stocked with his bow and arrows. An evil day comes; the father is stricken with fever, and in spite of his daughter's loving care, he succumbs, leaving Essie alone. For weeks afterward the girl barely exists, but at last the desire for life returns and hope, the feeling an all-wise Providence gives to humanity as a safeguard against our ills, regains possession of her mind and she fights on alone. One day in the woods she hears a wail, it sounds like the cry of an infant in distress. Upon investigation she discovers two baby leopards in the hollow of a tree; the girl hungers for companionship, so she determines to take the kittens to her home and as she reaches the door the mother leopard bounds into view. The girl, nothing daunted, clings to the babies. A strange scene follows; the fearless girl and the mother leopard become friends, she is alone no longer. One Year Later. Two animal buyers are starting for the interior. We follow the interesting movements of these men. We see them pitch camp in the jungles, trap leopards and other wild animals. Gates Finds Essie. A dense jungle; a white man with three native gun bearers is following a leopard track; suddenly he sees a magnificent specimen lying contentedly in his path, he raises his rifle, a human voice utters a cry, and a beautiful girl, clad in leopard skins, falls with arms outstretched across the body. Essie sees a human face and hears her mother tongue for the first time since her father's death. A few weeks later Jordan starts back with the first consignment of animals, leaving Gates to follow with the rescued girl. Essie has not only made friends with the leopard family, but being gifted by nature with a strange power over animals, she has taught them to obey her. We witness her giving Gates a demonstration of this power. The girl is alone in the world, and upon her return to civilization must have a means of livelihood. Gates is a showman and knows that an act such as Essie will be able to give with her pets will prove a revelation to the jaded theatergoers of America and Europe, so he proposes the scheme to Essie. She has grown very fond of her rescuer and is willing to be guided by his advice. Gates puts his men to building crates, and we see the party start back for civilization. At Cairo, Loading the animals on board a steamer bound for Paris. Then four weeks later we witness Essie's first public appearance. Gates has had scenery arranged to represent the girl's rude African abode, and the transplanted leopards, thinking themselves back in Africa with their Queen, obey her slightest wish, to the delight of a vast audience and as Gates takes the girl in his arms after her triumph, we see that the future bids fair to be as bright to Essie as the past has been unkind; the desolate days spent in darkest Africa are forgotten. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
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Director
Francis Boggs
Producer
William Nicholas Selig
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Status
Edit Released
Updated Aug 12, 1909
Release date
Aug 12, 1909 (United States)

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3 cast members
Name Known for
Hobart Bosworth's primary photo
Hobart Bosworth
Captain Jack Ownes Captain Jack Ownes   See fewer
The Sea Wolf (1913)
Betty Harte's primary photo
Betty Harte
Jessie Ownes - the Captain's Daughter Jessie Ownes - the Captain's Daughter   See fewer
The 'Epidemic' in Paradise Gulch (1912)
Tom Santschi's primary photo
Tom Santschi
Gates Gates   See fewer
King of the Wild (1931)
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