
Directing
Wallace McCutcheon Sr.
Born 1858-01-01 · New York, New York
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.
Acting credits
Behind the camera
Mary Tudor's secret marriage to Charles Brandon and her resistance to the king's plans to marry her off to Louis XII of France.
When Knighthood Was in Flower
1908
5.2Two 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
1906
Mack Sennett appears in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
The Kentuckian
1908
The 17th century: a rider is dispatched by the king to carry a message to the king's embattled forces in a distant conflict. The messenger is waylaid by a villain, whose mistress lures the messenger into a trap so that he can be stabbed and the message stolen.
The King's Messenger
1908
In the 1849 American West, seductive outlaw Jack Morgan falls in love with Mollie, an innkeeper's daughter, already coveted by stagecoach driver Dick. After robbing Dick's stagecoach, Jack is chased by a posse of horsemen. Wounded, he finds refuge with Mollie, who hides and nurses him back to health. Hunted to a burning barn, Jack attempts to escape but is shot dead by Dick. Mollie finds him dying in her arms. Between romance, betrayal, and pursuit, the film intensely blends drama and adventure.
The Outlaw
1908
5.6Two 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
1905
Mack Sennett appears as a charity worker in this film produced by the Biograph Company.
Old Isaacs, the Pawnbroker
1908
Believed to be the first film to feature cannibals.
King of the Cannibal Islands
1908
5.0Had 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
1908
With the family of Mr. Phlipp there is employed that wrecker of domestic serenity, a pretty French maid, whose trim figure and cherry lips are simply irresistible. This is all very fine for Phlipp, who is wont to bask in the radiance of her smiles and to sip the honey from her rose-leaved lips. But, alas! his bliss is short-lived, for, the perspicacious Mrs. Phlipp grows suspicious and surprises the erring couple in an osculatory diversion. The meretricious maiden is put to right, and the sinful Phlipp is assailed with most vociferous vituperative verbosity.
The Yellow Peril
1908
Crime drama involving an Irish couple immigrating to America
Caught by Wireless
1908
6.3A 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
1905
6.2Two 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
1906
4.3At 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
1908
2.8As a newsboy is playing a game on the sidewalk with a friend, two men come near to them, and then stand in a position where they cannot be seen from the sidewalk. When an attractive woman walks past them, the two men follow her. Sensing that they have bad intentions, the newsboy follows them to see what they are up to. When his suspicions are confirmed, he tries to come up with a plan to protect the woman.
The Boy Detective, or The Abductors Foiled
1908
3.2Two noblemen fight over a lady.
When Knights Were Bold
1908
5.5A 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
1906
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
1908
Daniel Boone is captured by Indians when he tries to rescue his abducted daughter.
Daniel Boone; or, Pioneer Days in America
1907
In Civil War days, a soldier is seen leaving his home to join the Union army. Later he and a group of soldiers are captured and imprisoned by the Confederates. In the Southern prison, whenever the guards' backs are turned, members of the group work at tunneling their way out. Ultimately they finish the tunnel and take fight. The Confederate forces pursue the fugitives and kill some of them, but others escape. At the end, the soldier from the film's opening returns to his home and family.
A Famous Escape
1908
4.9A man who has placed a personal advertisement for a prospective wife goes to wait at the meeting place that he designated. Soon a woman comes in response to the advertisement. Before the two have a chance to converse, several more women arrive on the scene. Now completely flustered, the man flees, initiating a lengthy chase.
Personal
1904
2.8A wealthy old alchemist and inventor has just perfected a motion picture camera with which he hopes to revolutionize the art of animated photography, and our story opens with the old man in his library studying out the plans of his invention. A telegram calls him hurriedly away. He replaces the papers in his safe, but, in his haste, neglects to lock it, which oversight is pardonable, as his wife and daughter are in the room at the time. The daughter's hand is sought in marriage by a worthy young man, whose attentions are looked upon with favor by herself and her parents. But he has a rival in the person of a contemptible villain, whose motives are purely mercenary, reasoning that this new invention will greatly enhance the father's already ample wealth.
Falsely Accused!
1908
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
1908
A boy takes pictures of everything, including some embarrassing situations. When he projects the pictures on a wall for everyone to see, his father spanks him and smashes the camera.
Bobby's Kodak
1908

