Sammy's Semi-Suicide - Production & Contact Info

Sammy's Semi-Suicide (1916)
Short | Short, Comedy

Sammy's Semi-Suicide (1916)

Short | Short, Comedy

Sammy and May are sweethearts. Both are employed in the same office, he as bookkeeper, she as typist. Whenever anything goes against him, it is his wont to dispose without delay of all his belongings in the form of gifts to his friends and...See moreSammy and May are sweethearts. Both are employed in the same office, he as bookkeeper, she as typist. Whenever anything goes against him, it is his wont to dispose without delay of all his belongings in the form of gifts to his friends and to make preparations to kill himself. At the critical moment something always happens to set his design at naught. One of his recent suicidal attempts is caused by the fact that his employer refuses to raise his salary before Christmas. He immediately sets out for the bank of a lake with the intent to drown himself. But just as he is about to precipitate himself into the deep, there rises in his mind's eye the vision of his sweetheart learning of his death and suffering agony untold as a result thereof. So no suicide act is "pulled off." A fortnight later, May gives a birthday party; in the course of which she devotes too much attention to another gentleman. Sammy decides that she does not love him. Death then be his refuge. Indignant at his conduct the guests decide to call his bluff for once and concoct a little scheme which they immediately put into operation. Armed with revolvers and pebbles they follow Sammy to where he intends to execute his design, this time by shooting. Sammy has no sooner pressed his revolver against his temple than he calls up a vision of his entire family dying at a stroke when they learn of his suicide. He unselfishly decides to live, for the sake of his family. At this moment the conspirators fire their pistols into the air and cast their pebbles at him. The suddenness of the uproar and the impact of the pebbles convinces Sammy that he has committed suicide, and the thought thereof causes him to faint with fright. When he comes to, he is alarmed by hearing a newsboy (fixed by the conspirators) yell forth the news of his suicide. He rises to follow the boy and comes upon two of the guests buying a paper of the boy. They immediately burst into tears and start out eulogizing the nobility of the deceased one's character. In vain does Sammy protest that he is very much alive. When the girl he loves hears the news she faints. In vain does Sammy rush from one to the other, a living refutation of his death. Nobody pays any heed to him. The guests leave, in order to afford May the consolation of solitude. Only one gentleman remains, on purpose, and Sammy. May immediately casts sorrow to the winds, and to the infinite mortification of Sammy, enacts a love scene with the gentleman who brazenly declares that Sammy could have done no better than get out of his way. Sammy collapses in a chair, whereupon the loving couple immediately occupy the same chair, just as if it had been vacant, and continue their flirtation. The gentleman then suggests how glorious it would be for them to get married at once. In vain does Sammy protest. The girl consents, and they immediately set out by auto to the minister's home. Sammy has slipped into the auto and finds himself seated between them, which in no wise prevents them from continuing their flirtation right across his body, as though to them he was non-existent. They get to the minister's, but as they shut the door quickly, Sammy is spared the agony of witnessing the marriage ceremony, which, of course, does not take place. A few minutes later some friends of his arrive. He pours out to them his tale of woe, but they pay absolutely no attention, and when the newlyweds appear, they give them a rousing send-off. Sammy is seething with indignation. Had they at least accorded him burial instead of permitting him to roam around as a ghost, witnessing such heart-rending spectacles. He totters home and collapses, exhausted on his bed. He falls asleep. The next morning he is startled out of his sleep by his mother, who shows him the clock and warns him that he has overslept. At the sound of the familiar voice and the sight of the familiar face he is convinced that he is alive after all, and all his experiences have been the creation of a morbid imagination. To make assurances doubly sure he hastens to the office to discover if May is still in her accustomed place. When he finds her there, working away as usual, he feels deeply ashamed of himself and takes good care not to mention a word about his nightmare so as not to make a laughing stock of himself. He merely gets hold of May's hand and slips an engagement ring on her finger, as a token of his reformation. Sammy never has another suicidal fit. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less