
An honest man, elected Governor of New York, refuses to appoint a man chosen by Boss Tally, the party leader, to an important position having jurisdiction over a large amount of state funds, even though Tally threatens to have the governor removed from office. In revenge, Tally persuades his son Archie to break his engagement to the governor's daughter Ruth.

James S. Barcus
United States

Corruption has always worn a necktie. In James S. Barcus’s blistering 1915 one-reeler The Governor’s Boss, the tie is silk, the knot is perfect, and the man adjusting it is Boss Tally—a political puppeteer whose grin could curdle cream at twenty paces. What shocks is not his villainy; it’s how contemporary the machine...

still_frame


Comparing the cinematic DNA and archive impact of two defining moments in cult history.

Charles E. Davenport

Charles E. Davenport
Community
Log in to comment.
" Corruption has always worn a necktie. In James S. Barcus’s blistering 1915 one-reeler The Governor’s Boss, the tie is silk, the knot is perfect, and the man adjusting it is Boss Tally—a political puppeteer whose grin could curdle cream at twenty paces. What shocks is not his villainy; it’s how contemporary the machinery feels a century later. The film arrives like a yellowed telegram from the past that somehow predicts tomorrow’s headlines. Shot when Woodrow Wilson was still promising “open co..."


Deep dive into the cult classic
Discover similar cinematic experiences
A Directorial Spotlight on Charles E. Davenport