Bab's Burglar (1917)
Comedy | 29 October 1917
The scenario was based on the 1917 short story, "Bab's Burglar" by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
According to articles in the 21 July 1917 Motography and the November 1917 Photo-Play Journal, principal photography took place at the Paramount Studio in New York City and on location in Greenwich, CT, where star Marguerite Clark performed a scene in which she drove a taxicab down the main street and collided with a milk wagon. Production ended in late July 1917, as indicated by the 1 August 1917 New York Clipper.
The 11 August 1917 Motion Picture News noted that the film marked the first screen adaptation of Rinehart’s “Sub-Deb” stories, a term describing a girl who is not yet of age to debut in high society. This term also supplied the title of Rinehart’s first story featuring her teenaged protagonist, “Barbara ‘Bab’ Archibald,” filmed later that summer as Bab’s Diary (1917, see entry).
Although the release of Bab’s Burglar was initially scheduled for September 1917, it was postponed until 29 October 1917, in keeping with the chronological order of Rinehart’s publications. The 17 November 1917 Moving Picture World reported an opening that same week at the Arcadia Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, as a substitute for Camille (1917, see entry), which was delayed “pending a decision of Common Pleas Court No. 1.” While reviews in the 2 November 1917 Variety and the 10 November 1919 Billboard listed William Hinckley in the role of “Carter Brooks,” at least one other source has credited Nigel Barrie.
A ...
The scenario was based on the 1917 short story, "Bab's Burglar" by Mary Roberts Rinehart.
According to articles in the 21 July 1917 Motography and the November 1917 Photo-Play Journal, principal photography took place at the Paramount Studio in New York City and on location in Greenwich, CT, where star Marguerite Clark performed a scene in which she drove a taxicab down the main street and collided with a milk wagon. Production ended in late July 1917, as indicated by the 1 August 1917 New York Clipper.
The 11 August 1917 Motion Picture News noted that the film marked the first screen adaptation of Rinehart’s “Sub-Deb” stories, a term describing a girl who is not yet of age to debut in high society. This term also supplied the title of Rinehart’s first story featuring her teenaged protagonist, “Barbara ‘Bab’ Archibald,” filmed later that summer as Bab’s Diary (1917, see entry).
Although the release of Bab’s Burglar was initially scheduled for September 1917, it was postponed until 29 October 1917, in keeping with the chronological order of Rinehart’s publications. The 17 November 1917 Moving Picture World reported an opening that same week at the Arcadia Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, as a substitute for Camille (1917, see entry), which was delayed “pending a decision of Common Pleas Court No. 1.” While reviews in the 2 November 1917 Variety and the 10 November 1919 Billboard listed William Hinckley in the role of “Carter Brooks,” at least one other source has credited Nigel Barrie.
A chart in the 1 December 1917 Motion Picture News stated that the feature was a popular attraction throughout the U.S.
The National Film Preservation Board (NFPB) included this film on its list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films as of February 2021.
When Barbara “Bab” Archibald returns home from school on vacation, her indulgent father deposits one thousand dollars in her bank account with the understanding that this is her entire allowance for the next year. The spendthrift Bab buys a car, which she promptly smashes through a fence and backs into a milk wagon. After she is arrested for speeding, Bab settles her fines, leaving her with a total of sixteen cents. To recoup her losses, Bab becomes a taxicab driver and finds a floor plan of the Archibald home that a customer has left in her vehicle. Assuming the man to be a burglar, Bab waits outside the house and sees him enter through a window. Bab locks all the doors and windows, then summons the family by firing a revolver, only to discover that, rather than thwarting a burglary, she has merely interrupted her sister’s ...
When Barbara “Bab” Archibald returns home from school on vacation, her indulgent father deposits one thousand dollars in her bank account with the understanding that this is her entire allowance for the next year. The spendthrift Bab buys a car, which she promptly smashes through a fence and backs into a milk wagon. After she is arrested for speeding, Bab settles her fines, leaving her with a total of sixteen cents. To recoup her losses, Bab becomes a taxicab driver and finds a floor plan of the Archibald home that a customer has left in her vehicle. Assuming the man to be a burglar, Bab waits outside the house and sees him enter through a window. Bab locks all the doors and windows, then summons the family by firing a revolver, only to discover that, rather than thwarting a burglary, she has merely interrupted her sister’s elopement.
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