“Calamity hauled her burro through a stream just in time to see Sad-Eyed O’Brien put a pistol to his head, but too late to save him. Result—a will was found in which Calamity was asked to take charge of O’Brien’s pretty daughter. Calamity did, lavishing all the love of her big heart on the orphan child. Calamity’s particular forte in life thereafter was to protect her ward again cowpunchers. She wanted that ward to to marry a ‘Dook’ or prince, or somebody that Calamity had vaguely heard about. Hence, when handsome John Wengle made advances, Calamity started for him with her six- shooter. In fact, every time that Calamity went abroad she had occasion to use that six-shooter, for all the boys were hard after that ward. One day came a daintily-dressed snappy- looking little chap, arrayed in the city’s latest. What the cowboys did to him was a scream, until Calamity interfered and dispersed them. And Calamity had an idea— why not marry her ward to this evidently prosperous youth. She tried—love blossomed without effort, but the young couple, unaware of Calamity’s desires, were too much afraid of her. So they rushed off to a neighboring town and had the job done. Meanwhile the stage stopped and an elderly, well-dressed gentleman from the city alighted. The half-dozen cowboys eyed him curiously, and when he carelessly threw his suitcase toward them to carry, they let it drop and started at him. Calamity and he met—met, when he found Calamity fast asleep in a doorway with a note announcing the elopement in her hands. Thus papa quickly learned what had happened to his angel boy, and roused Calamity roughly. This almost cost him his life, but after explanations, Calamity took a strong likening toward the city man. After a bit the wayward couple returned and all was rejoicing in Calamity’s hut, but all was sorrow in the corral.” - Moving Picture News, May 5, 1913, p. 28
While Calamity Anne’s Trust is a Western Comedy, it starts off with a death, the suicide of Sad Eyed O’Brien. This is a very unique and very unexpected way to start off a comedy as death and humor don’t really go along, so why did it start off that way? Was it inspired by something that was happening at that time? While the director is Allan Dwan, the writer is unknown. There might not be a concrete reason for including a suicide for the film, and we might never know the reason unless it’s documented somewhere, the suicide might have been included because of the multiple suicides reported in The Morning Press during the year 1913. From January 1913 to April 1913, The Morning Press wrote twenty-three articles about individual suicides including attempted suicides1. For most of them, the reason for the suicide is not reported, but for those that are reported, the most common reasons were either ill health or the loss of a family member. One particular case includes that of Maligny2, an assisting head waiter at a hotel, that committed suicide by drinking lysol. The reason for his death seemed to be because his wife left him, and with his death, not only did he leave a wife behind but also a child. In the film, the reason for Sad Eyed O’Brien’s suicide is unknown. All that is known is that he shot himself and that he left a daughter behind. There is no mention of a wife or another family member. However, while there are major differences between Maligny’s case and Sad Eyed O’Brien’s and there is no way to confirm what inspired the writer to include a suicide, Maligny’s case could have been the inspiration, especially since they did both leave a child behind. Even if Maligny’s case didn’t impact the story, there was a trend of committing suicide by either shooting or drinking some kind of poison between January 1913 and April 1913, totaling the nine out of the twenty three reported ones. Since Sad Eyed O’Brien’s suicide does not have a significant impact on the story and is not mentioned again after the beginning, that detail could have just been added because of what was happening socially. - Michelle Tiet 151FA, September, 2021 ______________ 1 https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=q&r=1&results=1&e=------191-en--20-MP-41--txt-txIN-suicide----1913---1 2 The Morning Press, February 24, 1913, p. 8
“’Calamity Anne’s Trust,’ featuring Miss Lester won the hearty endorsement of a big audience at the Palace Theatre last night. It is decidedly the best of the series of Calamity Anne comedies yet shown at this theatre. The scenes are all laid in Goleta and were readily recognized by many.” - The Morning Press, June 8, 1913, p. 1