“Held for Ransom”

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Paul Armstrong, with his prestige, is announced as the author of the melodrama. It is doubtful if almost anybody else would have received such serious consideration from the managers with such a vehicle.
The melodrama, in tabloid form, has four scenes and a scrim "vision." The act is about Count Zeveli (William H. Elliott), a dress suited Italian, who is the leader of the Black Hand society in New York. He is in love with Helen Alcar (Catherine Calvert), an opera singer. However, she has placed her affections with Bob Grant (A. E. Walsh), a police reporter going after the Black Handers. The Count has written a letter to Grant, threatening him to leave town. The brave reporter only laughs. Other characters include the reporter's detective friend (William O'Neil); the leading lady's Irish maid (Annie O'Keefe) and German music teacher (Carl Harbaugh); and the Count's subvillians, an Italian organ grinder (Ben J. Piazza), Levita (Anna MacDonald), the organ grinder's wife, and Hess (Edward C. Howard), an east side tough. The signer rejects the Count's proposal so he plans to have his lieutenants pretend to kidnap her and her maid so he can act has a brave hero, rescuing them. The girl sings to the count. In the rear the reporter is seen working at his office. His detective friend, having been in disguise, pantomimes that the kidnapping has occurred. The reporter rushes off, the girls singing providing a clue to her whereabouts. The police break in through doors and widows, pointing their weapons at the criminals.
The cast is adequate to the demands of their respective parts. The stage hands assisting int he transformations should be clad in dark clothing to conceal them.
Source:
Variety 24:9 (11/04/1911)