Watch The Center of the Web

A counterfeiting gang is foiled by police, and the action-chase takes up almost all of the second reel. The real stars of the chase are the agile and determined police dogs. This is a rather conservative example of late-1914 film style with only a couple of interesting camera set-ups and compositions, few dialogue titles (almost all title cards merely announce the action of the next scene), and no identification of the actors. It succeeds on a strong story line to exploit the three sure-fire elements of crime, chase, and animals. A rare and technically difficult process inset is used to enhance the drama and to do what silent movies do best: Replace words with pictures.