''Counterfeit'' is a 1919 American

silent Silent may mean any of the following: People with the name * Silent George, George Stone (outfielder) (1876–1945), American Major League Baseball outfielder and batting champion * Brandon Silent (born 1973), South African former footballer * C ...

detective

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

George Fitzmaurice George Fitzmaurice (13 February 1885 – 13 June 1940) was a French-born film director and producer. Career Fitzmaurice's career first started as a set designer on stage. Beginning in 1914, and continuing until his death in 1940, he directe ...

and starring

Elsie Ferguson Elsie Louise Ferguson (August 19, 1883 – November 15, 1961) was an American stage and film actress. Early life Born in New York City, Elsie Ferguson was the only child of Hiram and Amelia Ferguson. Her father was a successful attorney. Raise ...

. The assistant director was C. Van Arsdale. The picture was the fourth film Fitzmaurice and Ferguson worked on and is now considered to be a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy ...

Plot

As described in a

film magazine Film periodicals combine discussion of individual films, genres and directors with in-depth considerations of the medium and the conditions of its production and reception. Their articles contrast with film reviewing in newspapers and magazines whi ...

, Virginia Griswold (Ferguson), whose family is in financial straits, resolves to remedy the situation by finding the source of widely distributed counterfeit bills, as a large reward is offered for the capture of the maker of the fake bills. A clue takes her to

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay Europe Ireland *Newport, County Mayo, a town on the ...

where she poses as one of the idle rich and falls in love with Stuart Kent (Powell), a man of means, who returns her affection. Vincent Cortez (Gerard), about whom little is known, also becomes enamored of Virginia and she accepts his affections, much to the consternation of Stuart. She offers no acceptable explanation to Stuart for this. Carefully and craftily she leads Vincent to the point of sharing confidences, although this course greatly enrages Stuart and for a time threatens to bring open rupture of their relationship. After Vincent admits he is the counterfeiter, however, Virginia brings Stuart to an understanding of the situation and a happy conclusion.

Cast

as Virginia Griswold *

David Powell David Powell may refer to: * Dai Powell (David Morgan Powell, born 1935), Welsh footballer, full back for Blackpool and Rochdale * Dave Powell (1876–1953), Australian rules footballer who played with South Melbourne * David Powell (actor) (1883� ...

as Stuart Kent * Helen Montrose as Mrs. Palmer * Charles Kent as Colonel Harrington *

Charles K. Gerard Charles K. Gerrard (20 December 1883 – 1 January 1969), also known as Charles Kavanagh, was an Irish-American motion-picture actor, and the elder brother of actor and film director Douglas Gerrard. Selected filmography * ''His Brother's W ...

as Vincent Cortez *

Ida Waterman Ida Waterman (born Ida Shaw; March 10, 1852 – May 22, 1941) was a stage and screen actress. Waterman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She appeared some thirty or more Broadway productions between the late 1880s and early 1920s. She play ...

as Mrs. Griswold * Robert Lee Keeling as Mr. Palmer * Fred Jenkins as Uncle Ben * Mrs. Robertson as Aunt Jemima * Elizabeth Breen as Marinette, the Maid

References

External links

* *
Lobby card
Wayback Machine)
Lantern slide
1919 films American silent feature films Films directed by George Fitzmaurice 1919 drama films American black-and-white films Lost American drama films Films with screenplays by Ouida Bergère Silent American drama films 1919 lost films Counterfeit money in film 1910s American films {{1910s-drama-film-stub