A Cure for Pokeritis (1912)

Interesting facts

A Cure for Pokeritis is a 1912 short silent film starring John Bunny and Flora Finch. After Bunny's death in 1915, a re-release was announced with the alternative title A Sure Cure for Pokeritis. The film, a domestic comedy, depicts a woman who stops her husband's gambling habit by having her cousin stage a fake police raid on his weekly poker game. It was one of many similar shorts produced by Vitagraph Studios—one-reel comedies starring Bunny and Finch in a domestic setting, known popularly as "Bunnygraphs" or "Bunnyfinches"—whose popularity made Bunny and Finch early film stars. The film has been recognized as an historically important representative of its period and genre.

Production

A Cure for Pokeritis was one of many Vitagraph's one-reel or shorter comedies starring Bunny and Finch in a domestic setting, known popularly as "Bunnygraphs" or "Bunnyfinches". The number of these shorts that were originally produced is unknown because Vitagraph's films were generally not archived. Estimates vary considerably; totals in excess of 150, 200, or 260 have been proposed. Most of the studio's films are now considered lost.

The film was an early example of efforts to move beyond theater blocking conventions. During the police raid, depth was demonstrated by having action take place in both the foreground and the background, and by allowing actors to move between the spaces. This cinematography technique lent realism to the scene, and improved its pacing.

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