Summary
Silhouetted against the nickelodeon-flicker of 1914, Queen of the Forty Thieves unspools like a feverish lithograph: Manhattan silver-mine baron Parker, suffocated by premonitions of filial abduction, dispatches his polo-shirted heiress Alice into the care of a moonlighting sleuth who masquerades as a stable-rat. Enter Tom Harris—laconic, hawk-eyed—swapping badge for curry-comb, trading precinct etiquette for the dust of bridle-paths. A chance stampede of runaway thoroughbreds hurls the disguised detective across the cobblestones and into the tremulous gratitude of the millionaire’s daughter, a narrative spark that detonates a chain-reaction of perfidy. Jackson, suave jackal of the Queen’s subterranean syndicate, prowls the tavern dusk, sniffing grievance in the sacked coachman’s breath; together they slither toward the mansion’s gas-lit porte-cochère. Harris, now installed as replacement whip, shadows their cat-burglar ballet through rose-etched conservatories, only to be scorned as charlatan by his own benefactor. Undaunted, he answers a newspaper lure, descends into candle-stanched cellar oaths, and swears fealty to the Forty Thieves—his badge buried beneath a crimson bandanna. The Queen, sable-draped Valkyrie of the criminal underworld, salutes his bravado while orchestrating a locomotive heist aimed at the departing Parkers’ plush Pullman. A single purloined gazette tips Harris to the ambush; he vaults saddleback, commandeers outlaw disguise, and wrests Alice from the iron talons of the gang—only to be recaptured amid sage-scented ravines. Shackled in a cedar-reeking attic, the detective and the heiress stare down the barrel of a siege: federal dragoons thunder across chaparral, cannons cough, and the Queen’s citadel becomes a pyre. With her empire hemorrhaging flame, the monarch of bandits bleats redemption, unshackles Harris, then crumples beneath volley-fire. Through conflagration and cordite, Harris scales burning rafters, lowers Alice along a smoldering hemp lifeline, and collapses—scorched, gasping—into the taut canvas of salvation. Dawn reveals soot-streaked lovers, a repentant tycoon, and a marriage contract inked in ash and valor.
Synopsis
Parker, the millionaire, having informed the police that he believes an attempt will be made to kidnap his daughter, Alice, warns her to be careful, and the police assign a young detective, Tom Harris, to the case. Harris, in the disguise of a groom goes forth to seek the supposed kidnappers. On his way to the millionaire's mansion, he comes across a man named Jackson, whose actions arouse his suspicions. Deciding to catch him, Harris makes his acquaintance, and invites Jackson to an inn. Miss Parker, out on her daily ride, drives up to the inn, and stepping out, orders her coachman to wait. During her absence, the coachman indulges too freely in drink, and accidentally frightens the steeds, who run away. Tom Harris, by taking a short cut, succeeds in stopping the horses, and offers to drive Miss Parker home. Passing the inn, Alice dismisses the coachman, who vows vengeance. Jackson, who is no other than a lieutenant for the Forty Thieves, hearing this, and seeing an opportunity to gain entrance into the millionaire's mansion, offers to help the dismissed coachman secure his vengeance. Harris, upon his arrival at the millionaire's house, is offered the position as coachman, and believing he could gain more information by hiding his identity accepts his offer. That night the discharged coachman and Jackson force an entrance into the house, but are outwitted by Harris, who has watched their movements. They escape, and the millionaire arriving on the scene and finding no trace of the supposed robbers, becomes suspicious of Harris and orders him from the house, but believing he is on the right track of the kidnappers, Harris decides to keep silent. The next day by chance, he sees an advertisement in the paper for reliable men signed by Jackson. On answering the advertisement he is recognized by Jackson, who is seeking recruits for the Forty Thieves. Not knowing Harris' true character, and believing he would make an excellent member of the band, makes him an offer to join, which Harris accepts. Upon arriving at the rendezvous of the bandits, the Queen congratulates Jackson on his choice. Parker, alarmed at the identity of the bandits, decides to take an extended tour to South America with his daughter. The Queen, seeing a notice to this effect in the papers, orders Jackson to call a meeting of the band, and they decide to make one more effort to secure the girl. Having secured the necessary information, the gang sets out to hold up the train, and leave Harris behind. Surprised at this procedure, Harris asks the Queen to inform him of their destination; upon her refusal in the struggle which ensues, he manages to get possession of the newspaper, which gives him the needed information. Immediately striking the trail of the horses, which leads him to a lonely spot, he comes upon the gang's sentinel, guarding the horses, overpowers him, and appropriates his disguise. Taking part in the holdup of the train, he succeeds in rescuing the girl, and securing two of the gang's horses, escapes. He is discovered by the Queen, who has followed him, and being advised by the sentinel to which direction he has gone, orders the pursuit. Alice, becoming exhausted, is unable to hold her mount, and Harris lets one horse go and takes her upon his steed, but the increased load is too much tor the faithful animal, and they are overcome by the bandits and return with them to their rendezvous, where Alice is locked in an attic room, while Detective Harris is placed in another room at the extreme end of the house. Things are beginning to look bad. Arriving at the next station, the millionaire notifies the officers in charge of a detachment of soldiers on their way to the fort, and they immediately set out in hot pursuit across the country. Tracking the bandits to their rendezvous, they attack the house, and seeing the capture is certain the Queen orders the gang to fire the house. Shot by a stray bullet, she repents, seeks to liberate Tom Harris. Scrambling out of the blazing house, a sight which sears his soul meets his gaze. All around are dead and dying. Outside the troops are endeavoring to force the gates, and the house in which he knew Alice was imprisoned was a mass of roaring flames. A moment's thought and he goes to the assistance of the soldiers, blowing up the gates and giving them entrance, then he rushes to the house, searches for the room where Alice was imprisoned, and fighting against the overpowering influence of the smoke and flames, he succeeds in climbing with a coil of rope to her assistance. Just in time, another moment and she would have fallen back into that raging furnace. Steadily he attempts the hazardous descent of the rope, but half-way he sees with horror that the flames have licked the rope and it might give way at any time. The soldiers have anticipated this, too, and wait breathlessly with a blanket which they hold in readiness. The last strands of the rope part, and with a thud they fall into the outstretched blanket and are saved. Scarcely had the pair recovered than the millionaire arrived, brought by another detachment of soldiers, and hearing of the courage of his late coachman, gives him his daughter's hand as reward.
Review Excerpt
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Imagine, if you will, the year 1914: Europe is a powder keg with a lit cigar resting on its fuse, while halfway across the Atlantic, American moviegoers are flocking to converted burlesque halls to gorge on one-reel wonders projected against bedsheet screens. In that crackling twilight of nickelodeon innocence, Queen of the Forty Thieves detonates like a Roman candle—an eight-reel barn-burner whose very length was a flex, a flex whose echo can still be heard in the multiplex sprawl of today.
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