
Wallace McCutcheon Sr.
Directing
Biography
Wallace McCutcheon Sr., referred to affectionately as "Old Man McCutcheon" by members of the Biograph stock company, was, by 1907, indeed one of the senior figures in American film production. Little is known of his background, but he had apparently moved into the early film industry from stage direction. Under the encouragement of his friend Frank Marion, McCutcheon began working as a supervisor and director for American Mutoscope in 1897, continuing with them after their reorganization as American Mutoscope & Biograph in 1899. McCutcheon Sr.'s wealth of credits are often mixed up with the small handful of films directed by his son, Wallace McCutcheon Jr. (1884–1928). Sources indicate he also went by the name of George McCutcheon.
Known For

A jealous husband arrives in the office of Hawkshaw, a private detective. The husband is certain that his wife is being unfaithful, and he wants the detective to produce photographic evidence. The detective tails the wife, and thinks he has caught her, but a sudden mishap prevents him from getting a photo. Despite this and further setbacks, the dedicated detective presses on, determined to fulfill his assignment.
Getting Evidence

Two groups of young women get into a pair of horse-drawn carts, and go off for a straw ride through the snowy streets. As they pass by a group of children, the children throw snowballs at the riders, and they and other persons begin to join in the fun. Then one of the carts tips on its side, spilling some of its occupants into the snow. Everyone soon decides that they enjoy playing in the snow even more than riding.
A Winter Straw Ride

Two gang members send a threatening letter to a butcher, demanding money if he did not want his shop to be destroyed and his daughter Maria kidnapped. When he is unable to meet their request, they take Maria away. The Black Hand is the earliest surviving gangster film.
The Black Hand
A woman and her guests frantically search for her missing child, who is eventually found playing with her dog in the kennel.
The Lost Child

In the next scene all that is left of the cabin is a smoldering ruin. A company of trappers come rapidly out of the forest and discover the bodies of the unfortunate man and woman. With bared heads, and in most impressive fashion they register an oath never to rest until they have wreaked vengeance on the Indian murderers and rescued the child.
Discovery of Bodies

Had the poor melancholy Dane, Hamlet, lived in this, the twentieth century, he would never have given voice to the remark, "Oh, that this too, too solid flesh would melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew!" No indeed! He would have procured some of the mysterious fluid compounded by an erudite scientist by which things animate and inanimate were rendered non est, for ten minutes at least, by simply spraying them with it. In an atomizer, he sends a quantity, accompanied by a letter, to his brother. In the hope of his putting it on the market. The brother regards it as a joke, and, while toying with the atomizer, accidentally sprays himself. Presto! he is gone, to the amazement of the messenger boy who has carried the package thither. The boy reads the letter, and at once sees the amount of fun he can get out of it, so he nips it.
The Invisible Fluid

A happy Russian family is broken up when their patriarch is arrested for treason. His distraught wife joins the secret society of nihilists and is assigned to commit an act of terror.
The Nihilist

Two noblemen fight over a lady.
When Knights Were Bold
William Thompson and John Smith occupied offices in the same New York skyscraper, and both being seized with an irrepressible desire to cut loose and paint things crimson, arranged it as follows in this Biograph picture. Thompson sent a message to his wife that his friend Smith was ill, and it was his duty to perform that spiritual work of mercy, "comfort the afflicted," hence he would not have her wait up for him as he might be late. Smith did likewise, using Thompson as the object of his humane consideration. This done, they start off to make a night of it. First they visit the gilded throne room of a temple of Bacchus, where they moisten their parched spirits with dry Martinis. They are soon in a most glorious condition. Smith suggests the show where "Amateur Night" is on. - Written by Moving Picture World synopsis
Thompson's Night Out

Two members of a vigilante group known as 'The White Caps' post a warning sign on a man's home. When the man comes home, he tears down the sign, and then proceeds to abuse his wife both verbally and physically. As soon as she can get away from him, the wife leaves home with her child to find a place of refuge. When the vigilantes find out about this, they arm themselves with rifles and immediately go to confront the abusive husband.
The White Caps
Two students at college were friends until a girl appeared and by the workings of fate was beloved by both. The girl has given her heart to one of the classmates, unknown to the other. The youth confesses his love, and is plunged into despair when told that her heart is another's. Coldly the classmates part, when the next day they start on their divergent paths of life. Years later, they meet again and while the trio enjoy a pleasant chat, a message calls the husband away, leaving his wife to entertain. The chum takes advantage of his absence to renew his protestations of love, which are spurned by the wife, who attempts to avoid him. He follows, whereupon the wife sends him reeling down the stairs, just as the husband reenters. The woman's denunciation of the friend brings about a terrific combat.
Classmates
Believed to be the first film to feature cannibals.
The King of the Cannibal Islands
A gorilla escapes from its master on a ship, breaks into a young woman's home, and kills her. The woman's fiancé, Jim, who had visited earlier, is framed for the murder by the police. The famous detective Sherlock Holmes reads about the case, investigates, and uses his deductive reasoning (playing the violin, finding the gorilla). Holmes exposes the real killer (the gorilla and its master) and frees Jim just before he's convicted, revealing the true sequence of events in court.
A Famous Escape
Daniel Boone is captured by Indians when he tries to rescue his abducted daughter.
Daniel Boone; or, Pioneer Days in America
Mack Sennett appears as a soldier in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
The King's Messenger

In this color-tinted short, we first see a close-up of a red rose, perfectly formed. Then, we see the rose held by a young woman who is wearing a bright yellow dress. She's the second beauty. Behind her is a slow dissolve to the US flag, tinted in red, white, and blue, blowing in the wind. Behind the flag is a star-lit sky.
Three American Beauties

At a political club, the members debate whose bust will replace that of Theodore Roosevelt. Unable to agree, each goes to a sculptor's studio and bribes him to sculpt a bust of the individual favorite. Instead, the sculptor spends their fees on a dinner with his model during which he becomes so inebriated that he is taken to jail. There he has a nightmare, wherein three busts are created and animated from clay (through stop-motion photography) in the likenesses of Democrat William Jennings Bryan and Republicans Charles W. Fairbanks and William Howard Taft. Finally an animated bust of Roosevelt appears.
The Sculptor's Nightmare
A poorly compensated bank clerk is, we may say, to that trying position of "Tantalus" in sight of tons of money but not a dollar of his own. This became more torturing as time went on, until at last, when the bank was arranging to ship a large quantity of cash to the West to relieve the recent money stringency, he made up his mind to heed the solicitude of that specter which had haunted him. Listening to the instructions given to the bank's messenger as to the shipment of the funds, he hustles off to a gang of crooks in whose company he had fallen.
The Man in the Box

No description available.
Mixed Babies
Showing the entire catastrophe resulting from the attempt of Mr. Gorham to ride around the loop the loop on a bicycle. While the enormous crowd watches him he comes down the slide with the speed of the wind, circles the loop, but as he nears the bottom his wheel swerves from the path and the rider crashes into the framework of the structure. Attendants rush up and carry away the injured man. (Biograph Catalog)