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OPEN CLASSIC CINEMA · 1420

A Beast at Bay

191217 minUnited States

Synopsis

A young woman dismisses her boyfriend as a coward, then is forced to drive an escaped convict away. Seeing the abduction, the boyfriend commandeers a train and pursues the car along the parallel railway.

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Video edition: Wikimedia Commons
Original language: No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified.
This copy runs: 17:33
Subtitles: No subtitle track in this language

No spoken dialogue. Intertitles: not identified. No subtitle track in this language.

Languages and subtitles

No subtitle track in this language

Wikimedia Commons · D. W. Griffith · Public domain

Cast

Mary Pickford

DirectorsD. W. Griffith

Behind the scenes

Griffith filmed the short in Southern California. The chase uses the relationship between road and railway to organize the rescue and change the woman's judgment of her companion.

Sources and availability

General references identify the work and its copy. A reference beside an editorial section is linked to the claims checked in that section.

Wikipedia — film reference Wikidata — film identity and credits

Work catalogued as public domain in the United States.

The public-domain references concern the original films in the United States. Rights can differ for other countries, editions, restorations, music or translations. Sources are listed on each film page.

Availability checked on September 16, 2026.

Photograph credit

Photographs cropped, resized and optimized as WebP, displayed in monochrome.

Mary Pickford — Rufus Porter Moody · Public domain

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