A growing source of silent era film information. This listing is from The Progressive Silent Film List by Carl Bennett. Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

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The Boy Detective; or, The Abductors Foiled
(1908) United States of America
B&W : [?] Split-reel? / 497 feet
Directed by Wallace McCutcheon

Cast: [?] ? [the newspaper boy], Robert Harron [Swifty, the messenger boy], Edward Dillon [the antagonist]

American Mutoscope & Biograph Company production; distributed by American Mutoscope & Biograph Company. / Cinematography by G.W. Bitzer. / © 7 March 1908 by American Mutoscope & Biograph Company [H107074]. Released 11 March 1908. / [?] Biograph 35mm spherical format?

Drama: Crime.

Synopsis: A newspaper boy foils a kidnap attempt and helps bring the criminals to justice.

Survival status: Print exists in the Library of Congress film archive (paper print collection) [35mm paper positive].

Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].

Keywords: Female impersonation - Law: Enforcement: Police: Detectives, Policemen - Signage - Tobacco: Cigarettes - Transportation: Carriages - Weapons: Handguns

Listing updated: 27 December 2022.

References: Film viewing : Niver-First p. 117 : Website-AFI; Website-IMDb.

Home video: Blu-ray Disc, DVD.