Baby Snatch, Ireland
16mm film Black & White Silent c.1935 10:59
Summary: An amateur drama about kidnapping.
Title number: 24
LSA ID: LSA/29
Description: A mortar boarded academic arrives at a country home by motor car. He is left to teach a small infant in the back garden, with a baby in a cot. Suddenly he removes the academic gown, hat and his moustache which are revealed as a disguise. He snatches the children and escapes by horseback. The women of the house spy him from an upstairs window and cry for help. They jump from the window and mount horses in pursuit, a raft of women and children join them behind on foot. The two female riders draw close on the rascal and he tosses the children over a hedge into a field. The women rescue the children and return them home. A policeman on a bicycle intercepts the rascal rider and arrests him with the assistance of a small dog. Two men greet the women and children and celebrate their safety. A prison guard armed with a shotgun leads the rascal by a chain on to hard labour breaking rocks. He repeatedly tries to strike the guard with his hammer and is fended off with the threat of the gun.
Further information: The film apes the story of silent cinema baby snatch dramas with a fine understanding of the form and a degree of humour towards it. The setting of the film is rural and quite possibly Ireland as the title suggests, although this cannot be confirmed. It features Pat and Geta W., Daphne and her husband Russell.
Keywords: Abduction
Locations: Ireland
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