A Night of Terror's primary photo
  • A Night of Terror (1908)
  • Short | Short, Drama
Primary photo for A Night of Terror
A Night of Terror (1908)
Short | Short, Drama
The story opens in the log cabin of an old trapper, who, a widower, is attended by a little housekeeper in the person of his ten-year-old daughter. The amber shades of late afternoon are fast deepening into the rose hue of evening when a ...See moreThe story opens in the log cabin of an old trapper, who, a widower, is attended by a little housekeeper in the person of his ten-year-old daughter. The amber shades of late afternoon are fast deepening into the rose hue of evening when a New York prospector enters to close a deal with the trapper for a tract of ore land, paying him for same with gold coins. While the deal is being consummated there appears at the window of the cabin a face of most villainous mien, a face, livid, with eyes that clearly index the black heart of the man. He watches the proceedings until the money is paid over, and then hurries off to devise his plan. Night has fallen; the money is hidden under the hearthstone, and we leave the cabin with its lonely occupants retiring to dream of the future happiness their little wealth of gold may bring. In the next scene, supposed to be the following day, we find the villain in a lonely mountain trail plotting with an accomplice. The scheme they evolve we shall soon see. One hides in the brush while the other remains in the road to meet a cart loaded with sacks of potatoes, which they know is being driven to the old trapper's cabin. The cart is halted with some slight inquiry by the one robber, and while engaged in conversation the driver is seized from behind by the other thief, who has jumped from the bushes. Struggling, the two men fall from the cart and a terrific skirmish takes place between the three, ending with the driver being securely bound and gagged. The robbers then empty a sack into the road, and one of the thieves is tied up inside, armed with a knife with which to cut his way out at the opportune moment. The cart then proceeds on its way, driven by the other robber, to the trapper's cabin, leaving the owner of the team helpless in the road. Pulling up in front of the cabin, the sacks are carried in, the thief taking care to carry in the one containing his accomplice and placing it so as to render his escape easy. In the cabin w« now find the old trapper just finishing his evening meal, preparatory to a night's hunting. Taking up his gun, and enjoining his daughter to be careful to securely bar the window and door, departs. Here follows a most beautiful scene of the little girl standing before the cabin waving adieu to her dear old father, as he trudges off through the moonlit forest. Re-entering the cabin, the little one secures the window and door with the cross-bars, and then proceeds to wash her dishes. A slight movement of a sack attracts her attention and watching, it becomes more convincingly evident that there is a living being inside. Tiptoeing to a trap door in the center of the room, she raises it cautiously, and with a mighty effort rolls the sack over into the opening, which leads to the cellar below. She then slams down the door and piles upon it everything portable she is able to lift. This is but a slight handicap for the robber, who having cut himself from the sack, pushes up the trap door in the center of the room, she raises it cautiously, and with a mighty effort rolls the sack over into the opening, which leads to the cellar below. She then slams down the door and piles upon it everything portable she is able to lift. This is but a slight handicap for the robber, who having cut himself from the sack, pushes up the trap door, with its ballast, and leaps into the room, although the little girl has taken up a gun and fired at him, but her strength not equal to it, the shot goes wild. The robber seizes the little one, doubtless to force her to divulge the hiding place of the gold, when the father, sent back either by the workings of fate or a parent's intuition, bursts into the cabin. A most thrilling fight ensues, during which the poor little creature looks on in helpless anguish, for the chances seem even, until the father succeeds in disarming the robber, who makes a mad rush for the window, reaching the sill, only to fall back into the room, dead from a well-directed bullet of the trapper's gun. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less
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Cinematographer
G.W. Bitzer
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Status
Edit Released
Updated May 31, 1908
Release date
May 1908 (United States)

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