The Heiress at Coffee Dan's

The Heiress at Coffee Dan's
Frank Bennett and Bessie Love
Directed by	Edward Dillon^[1]^[2]
Screenplay by	Bernard McConville^[3]
Starring	Bessie Love
Cinematography	David Abel^[1]^[3]
Production company	Fine Arts Film Company
Distributed by	Triangle Film Corporation
Release date	December 1916 (1916-12) (U.S.)^[a]
Running time	5 reels
Country	United States
Language	Silent (English intertitles)

The Heiress at Coffee Dan's is a 1916 American silent comedy-drama^[7] film produced by the Fine Arts Film Company and distributed by Triangle Film Corporation. It starred Bessie Love and was directed by Edward Dillon.

The film is presumed lost.

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Plot

Waffles (Love) is a Swedish immigrant who is working as a waitress in Coffee Dan's, a San Francisco diner. She is in love with poor composer Carl (Bennett).

Thieves Clara Johnstone (Younge) and Bert Gallagher (Paget) learn about a missing heiress in a newspaper, and convince Waffles that she is the heiress. Waffles moves into a lavish mansion, and plans to buys the diner for its chef Shorty (Davidson), publish Carl's music, and adopt a baby. However, Johnstone breaks up Waffles and Carl, and Waffles becomes engaged to Gallagher. Before the wedding, Carl appears and stops it.

When the real heiress appears, Waffles returns to her original life, but she receives a reward for the capture of Johnstone and Gallagher. With her money, she buys the diner for Shorty, publishes Carl's music, and adopts the baby.^[3]^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Cast

Bessie Love as Waffles
Frank Bennett as Carl Miller
Max Davidson as Shorty Olson
Lucille Younge as Clara Johnstone
Alfred Paget as Bert Gallagher
Alva Blake as Slim Magee
Carmel Myers as a waitress^[3]^[12]^[13]

Reception

Bessie Love received positive reviews for her performance in the title role,^[7]^[11]^[14] called "always pleasing".^[7]

The film received mixed reviews. Reviewer George Graves liked the film, but would have preferred it as a straight comedy. He called the direction "adequate".^[7] One review called it a "dull story."^[15]

References

Notes

^ Various publications provide different release dates: December 21,^[4] 23,^[5] and 24.^[6]

Citations

^ ^a ^b Love 1977, p. 149
^ Love 1977, p. 69
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "The Heiress at Coffee Dan's". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
^ "8,000 Titles of Features". The 1927 Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures. John W. Alicoate. 1927. p. 103.
^ "Index of Reviews, Comments, and Stories of the Films". The Moving Picture World. New York, NY: Chalmers Publishing Company. December 30, 1916. p. ix.
^ "Features – Current and Coming". Motion Picture News. New York, NY. January 22, 1917. p. 603.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Graves, George (January 16, 1917). "The Heiress at Coffee Dan's". Motography. Vol. 17, no. 1.
^ "Bessie Love in Triangle Drama". La Crosse Tribune. La Crosse, Wisconsin. January 13, 1917. p. 4.
^ Collings, Jane (1996). "The Hollywood Waitress". In James, David E.; Berg, Rick (eds.). The Hidden Foundation: Cinema and the Question of Class. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. p. 282. ISBN 978-0-8166-2704-2.
^ "Triangle Releases for Week of December 17th". Motion Picture News. Vol. 14, no. 25. New York, NY. December 23, 1916. p. 3956.
^ ^a ^b "Bessie Love in 'The Heiress at Coffee Dan's'". Film Fun. No. 335. February 1917. p. 10.
^ ^a ^b "Stories of the Films". The Moving Picture World. New York: The World Photographic Publishing Company. January 6, 1917. p. 142.
^ Porter, Verne Hardin (June 1918). "And the Elephants Beckoned 'Come On! Come On!'". Photoplay. Vol. 14, no. 1. pp. 32–33, 116.
^ Milne, Peter (December 23, 1916). "Screen Examinations". Motion Picture News. Vol. 14, no. 25. New York, NY. p. 4042.
^ "Comments on the Films". The Moving Picture World. New York, NY: The World Photographic Publishing Company. December 23, 1916. p. 1821.