Playwright Harry Bryant while driving in a rural area, happens upon orphaned Kate astride a white horse, he is so charmed that he arranges for her to work at a nearby inn. Unable to tolerate the cruelty of the innkeepers, Kate runs away and seeks out Harry at his house in Story Brook farm. Charmed by her youthful exuberance, Harry falls in love with the uneducated girl and they marry. Harry soon becomes disenchanted with his illiterate wife, however, and seeks solace in his former sweetheart Diana Nelson. When he discovers that Diana is using him to further her social ambitions, Harry returns to Kate, who provokes his jealousy by paying daily visits to a mysterious apartment house.
Director: Léonce Perret.
Stars: Mae Murray, Holmes Herbert, Dorothy Green, Arthur Donaldson.
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Note: This very good print comes from the EYE Institute in The Netherlands hence it comes with Dutch intertitles, I added English subtitles which I translated with help from Jorge based on Spanish subtitles found on Youtube.
Thank you! I am so excited to finally be able to see this!!!
Watching an early silent film is like seeiing an ancient world through a telescope backwards: little objects moving & acting not some much showing us something we have never seen but rather giving us a glimpse at a world that no longer exists , , , or in fact, never did. This story is what 1919 audiences wanted to believe about modern American families. Innocence preserves, husbands will stray (in what seems to be utterly accepted ways. but he will also come home filled with trite contrition & is loving accepted back into the bower wth the finally blessing of a new baby. But is is also a not subtle reminder to wives to understand the bad boy nature of “boys” & forgive them when they come crawling back asking for forgiveness. A familiar example of a dominant ideology of oppressive social behavior being created one film at a time. Thanks Jon, for offering us a chance to view it.