Movie spotlight
Cab No. 13
The film starts with a woman on the run from her millionaire husband giving birth to a daughter in the home of a washerwoman. The woman dies in childbirth, but the baby survives. The washerwoman leaves the baby in a horsedrawn Parisian taxicab (No. 13). The paperwork of the birth is lost in a huge tome. Sixteen years pass. The tome is bought by a poor student. One day his bookshelf collapses, and the tome opens at the page where the paperwork has been hidden. The student realises that the paperwork relates to a millionaire who has spent the last sixteen years looking for his pregnant wife. The student traces the washerwoman, and he tricks her into confessing what she has done with the baby. Meanwhile, the baby has been adopted by the cab driver and his wife, and has grown into Lili Damita.
Insights
Plot Summary
In this silent comedy, a young woman finds herself in a series of comical predicaments after her car breaks down and she's forced to rely on a series of increasingly strange taxi drivers. As she navigates the city, she encounters eccentric characters and unexpected romantic possibilities.
Critical Reception
As a silent film from the mid-1920s, detailed contemporary critical reception is scarce. However, films of this era often focused on lighthearted entertainment and slapstick humor, aiming for broad audience appeal. Surviving records suggest it was a modest, though largely forgotten, comedic effort of its time.
What Reviewers Say
A lighthearted silent comedy designed for laughs.
Features a series of amusing encounters and scenarios.
A typical example of 1920s comedic filmmaking.
Google audience: Information regarding audience reception for 'Cab No. 13' is not available due to its age and limited distribution.
Fun Fact
The film stars Agnes Ayres, who was a major star in the early 1920s, particularly known for her role in 'The Sheik' (1921).
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