Captain Jinks, the Cobbler (1916)
1916 · Silent film · 12 min · dir. Van Dyke Brooke
- Comedy
Synopsis
Captain Jinks, the Cobbler was one of two Jinks comedies released by Vitagraph for Christmas 1916 and, according to the U.S. copyright filing, was loosely based on the true story of celebrated conman Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt, who passed as a Prussian officer and commandeered funds from the Köpenick municipal treasury in 1906. In Vitagraph’s adaptation of the tale, the first movie version made in America, an army officer in some unpronounceable Central European town directs Jinks to repair his gear. Hounded by his nagging wife, the cobbler dons the officer’s uniform and parades about town. The impersonation proves so convincing that the burgomeister awards Jinks the officer’s bonus. When the ruse is discovered, the court gives Jinks a choice: two years in jail or at home with his wife. The film ends with cobbler pondering the pros and cons.
Synopsis from TMDb
Details
- Director
- Van Dyke Brooke
- Studio
- Vitagraph Company of America
- Released
- 1916-12-25
- Running time
- 12 minutes
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Ephemeral Films
Subjects on the Internet Archive
- silent film
- New Zealand Project
Cast & crew
Van Dyke Brooke Director
Frank Daniels
Mildred Manning
