To avoid seeing Marjorie Dare, Jim Allen visits Stewart Leighton at the latter's country home. (Five years earlier Jim's engagement to Marjorie Dare was broken when her mother was killed and his father disappeared.) Through certain circumstance Marjorie also becomes Leighton's guest, and Jim moves out into the woods. There he meets Smiles, a little girl in the care of strange old Ben Tangleface. Leighton wishes to wed Marjorie for her money and is trying forcefully to persuade her to accept him when Jim comes to the rescue. But Ben, his memory stirred by the sight of Leighton, kills him. Explanations reveal Smiles to be Dorothy's sister and Ben, Jim's father. He was wounded while defending Marjorie's mother, whom Leighton killed.
Acting
Norma Shearer's expressive face carries the melodrama.
Direction
Huhn wrangles multiple plot twists in under an hour.
Director
Austin O. Huhn
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was one of Norma Shearer's early roles before she became MGM's prestige star and Irving Thalberg's wife.
The 'clouded name' trope—family scandal blocking marriage—was pure 1920s melodrama fuel, reflecting anxieties about reputation in an era of rapid social change.
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