Captain Kate, The Animal Trader's Daughter [Rescued By Her Lions] (1911)

Advertising herald for CAPTAIN KATE, THE ANIMAL TRADER'S DAUGHTER (1911)

SELIG'S Startling Production

Capt. Kate
The Animal Trader's Daughter

Alone in the Wild's of Africa; surrounded  by Raging Wild Beasts

SEE PET LEOPARDS KILL THE FEROCIOUS LION.

BIJOU Theatre

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY Oct. 18 & 19 (1911)
Afternoons: 2:30 to 4:30   Nights: 7 to 10

Advertising herald for CAPTAIN KATE, THE ANIMAL TRADER'S DAUGHTER (1911) with Kathlyn Williams

CAPTAIN KATE is the young and intrepid daughter of an old animal trader in Africa. He makes his livelihood by catching, or purchasing, wild animals in regions where they abound, his helpers being Kaffirs, who carry spears and shields of hide.

The opening scene shows the capture of a lion by means of lassoes, a very unusual method. We see the old trader in conversation with animal catchers who are on their way to fill orders for circuses and menageries. Kate stands near, graceful and lithe, the holster on her hip showing a large revolver of heavy caliber. We next see the trader and his daughter en route, with a large company of Kaffir warrior in attendance. Suddenly the old animal man reels and falls to the sand. Kate dismounts and rushes to his side, and gradually the black men close in around them. Then we notice that they are seized with fear and stand back. They have seen the signs of the deadly plague on the face of the stricken man.

The scene now changes, showing a party of white men beating a section in which big game abounds. We watch them on the fringes of a thicket, alert and armed with rifles. Soon we catch sight of a big lion which is being driven in by the advance of the beaters. Cautiously and stealthily he moves, coming

Advertising herald for CAPTAIN KATE, THE ANIMAL TRADER'S DAUGHTER (1911)

right up towards the camera. He reaches a place in his path were the branches are strewn, and in an instant he disappears. He has fallen into the pit cunningly prepared for him by the hunters. Soon they come in view and engage in capturing the trapped beast.

Again we go back to the tent in the forest, where the old trader is battling with a deadly sickness. He is trying painfully to write, evidently preparing for the approach of death. Kate is worn out with long watching and has fallen asleep in her chair. As her father falls backward on his bed, in the death throes, she awakens and rushes to his aid. But he is beyond earthly care. Then we view the burial scene and the little wooden cross set in the sands. One of the natives falls a victim to the dreaded plague and we see the chief of the party approach Captain Kate and announce that his people are about to desert her. In a flash the nervy girl covers him with a revolver. Soon afterward Captain Kate is alone in African forest.

A log hut is hastily erected and, as soon as it is completed, Kate sends her trusted servant with a message for aid to friends in the nearest settlement. Six months elapse, but no tidings have reached her from friends on the outside. Her only companions are two leopard pets which she caresses as if they were ordinary house cats.

And now the spectator is treated to a scene that he or she will long remember. In the clearing near the frail hut there appears a majestic lion. He is huge and black-maned. His mate follows in the rear. Suddenly a wild hog rushes from the thicket. He is a fierce little animal and, at the outset, he fronts the big lion as if to make an attack. But the towering bulk of the enemy awes him and he rushes off in flight. The lion is after him like a streak and soon he reappears with the hog in his immense jaws, his fangs transfixing the under portion of the creature's neck. With  ease he bears the heavy carcass, holding his head high and forming a picture of might and majesty. Even his mate awed, and sniff (sic) at the body of the hog, but fears to do more.

Captain Kate heard the lions and, though she cannot see them, we see her examining her rifle closely. Then she retreats to the hut and bars the door. Soon we discover a lion trotting up to the hut, and we watch Kate as she fires her last cartridge at the brute. She misses. But the lion must be ousted from his hiding place. Unbarring the door, she calls her leopards and directs them into the thicket. In the brush a fearful conflict rages for several minutes, and we finally see the leopards on top of the lion, which as ceased to move. They have severed his jugular vein and his life blood has oozed out. Soon afterwards Captain Kate is rescued by a company of wild animal catchers. The messenger who she had dispatched for help had been shot with an arrow by hostile Kaffirs, and his skeleton had been discovered by her newly found friends. Her message had been discovered by them amont the remains and they had hastened to her rescue.

For realism and remarkable incidents, "Captain Kate" is certain to create a big stir in the world of moving pictures.

Hennegan & Co. Cincinatti

Union Label
Allied Printing
Trades Council
{?}

Note: This one-reel short was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida.


with Kathlyn Williams and Charles Clary. Directed by Francis Boggs and/or Otis Turner. Selig/General Film.

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More Information on the Bijou Theatre...

The Bijou Theatre at CinemaTreasures.com

Books

King Cowboy: Tom Mix and the Movies, by Robert Birchard, pp. 30,32.

Motion Picture Pioneer: The Selig Polyscope Company, by Kalton C. Lahue, pp. 76, 196.

Last Modified March 18, 2022