Five Thousand an Hour

When Johnny Gamble's partner, Paul Gresham, steals all the corporate funds, Gamble is left to pay off the company shareholders out of his own personal fortune. After he's done with that, he is left with only $100 to his name. Feeling he has nothing left to lose, he heads to the racetrack, where he bets it all on a longshot, which wins the race, returning $15,000 to Gamble. At the track, he meets Constance Joy, and learns that she is slated to marry Gresham in 6 weeks. She is doing this in order to be eligible to inherit a million dollars on her 26th birthday, in 6 weeks time.

Gamble sets out to turn his $15,000 into a million dollars in six weeks, so that he can marry Constance instead of her marrying Gresham. He engages in a series of business ventures, all of which turn out quite well for him, despite interference from Gresham. With fifteen minutes to go before the deadline, Gamble is still $15,000 short. However, Constance offers him the $15,000 for a single kiss.

• Hale Hamilton as Johnny Gamble
• Lucille Lee Stewart as Constance Joy
• Gilbert Douglas as Paul Gresham
• Florence Short as Polly Parsons
• Robert Whittier as Jim Collaton
• Robert Middlemass as Ashley Loring
• Isabel O'Madigan as Mrs. Patty Boyden
• William Frederic as Colonel Bouncer
• Warren Cook as Raymond Courtney
• Charles Edwards as Boise
• Hardee Kirkland as Mortimer Washer
• Jack Bulger as Birchard
• William Cohill

In August 1918 it was announced that Metro Pictures had acquired the rights to George Chester Randolph's novel, Five Thousand an Hour. The script was written by June Mathis, with Ralph Ince at the helm and starring Hale Hamilton.{{cite news|title=Chester Story Selected for Hale Hamilton |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=exhibitorsherald07exhi |newspaper=Exhibitors Herald and Motography |date=August 24, 1918 |pages=23 |accessdate = September 10, 2023}} Some of the racetrack scenes were filmed on location at Saratoga Racetrack.{{cite news|title=Green Room Jottings |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=motionpicturemag16moti |newspaper=Motion Picture Magazine |date=November 1918 |pages=100 |accessdate = September 9, 2023}} The film marked Hamilton's debut as a starring actor for Metro Pictures. In August 1918 Metro announced that the supporting cast around Hamilton would be Lucille Lee Stewart, Robert Middlemas, Florence Short, Robert Whittier, Warren Cook, William Fredericks, Gilbert Douglas and Jack Bulger.{{cite news|title=Hamilton's Support Picked |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=filmdailyvolume556newy |newspaper=The Film Daily |date=August 28, 1918 |pages=2 |accessdate = September 9, 2023}} The picture was originally scheduled to be released October 21.{{cite news|title=Metros For October |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=filmdailyvolume556newy |newspaper=The Film Daily |date=August 29, 1918 |pages=3 |accessdate = September 9, 2023}} Douglas was a well-known Broadway actor, and the film was the first time he appeared on-screen.{{cite news|title=Will Make Screen Debut in New Metro Production |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=exhibitorsherald07exhi_0 |newspaper=Exhibitors Herald |date=October 5, 1918 |pages=30 |accessdate = September 9, 2023}} Filming on the picture finished in mid-September.{{cite news|title=Two More Finished |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=filmdailyvolume556newy |newspaper=The Film Daily |date=September 21, 1918 |pages=3 |accessdate = September 9, 2023}} The film's release was delayed, finally occurring on November 25, 1918.{{cite news|title=Features — Current and Coming |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=motionpicturenew00moti_20 |newspaper=Motion Picture News |date=December 21, 1918 |pages=3745 |accessdate = September 10, 2023}} As of October 2019, the film was listed on the National Film Preservation Board's list of Lost U.S. Silent Feature Films.{{r|AFI}}

The La Crosse Tribune enjoyed the film, as well as the performance of Hamilton, "The story is of unusual vigor and strength and presents Mr. Hamilton in the dynamic leading role which is one eminently suited to his virile and compelling style of comedy, and as Johnny Gamble, he is seen at his best."{{cite news|title=Hale Hamilton Here |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/131490537/ |newspaper=The La Crosse Tribune |date=December 31, 1918 |pages=4 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = September 9, 2023}} The Los Angeles Evening Express also gave the film a good review calling it, "one of the most entertaining comedy dramas ever seen on the screen."{{cite news|title=Five Thousand an Hour Proves Easy in Screen Drama |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/131490669/ |newspaper=Los Angeles Evening Express |date=December 29, 1918 |pages=42 |via = Newspapers.com|accessdate = September 9, 2023}} Motion Picture News, on the other hand, did not like the picture, calling it "slow and tiring".{{cite news|title="Five Thousand an Hour"-Metro |url=https://mediahistoryproject.org/reader.php?id=motionpicturenew18moti_7 |newspaper=Motion Picture News |date=December 7, 1918 |pages=3421 |accessdate = September 9, 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0009075}}
• {{TCMDb title|494516}}
• {{AFI film|17091}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Five Thousand an Hour}}

Category:1918 films

Category:1918 comedy-drama films

Category:1918 lost films

Category:1910s American films

Category:1910s English-language films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:American silent feature films

Category:English-language comedy-drama films

Category:Films based on American novels

Category:Films directed by Ralph Ince

Category:Lost American comedy-drama films

Category:Metro Pictures films

Category:Silent American comedy-drama films