Dorothy Davenport

Dorothy Davenport

Birth : 1895-03-13, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Death : 1977-10-12

History

Dorothy Davenport (March 13, 1895 – October 12, 1977) was an American actress, screenwriter, film director, and producer who appeared in silent film for Biograph Studios under the direction of D.W. Griffith. While filming on location in Oregon for The Valley of the Giants (1919), Wallace Reid was injured in a train wreck. As a remedy for the pain from this injury, studio doctors administered large doses of morphine to Reid to which he became addicted. Reid's health slowly grew worse over the next few years, and he died of the addiction in 1923. After Reid's death, Davenport and Thomas Ince co-produced the film Human Wreckage (1923) with James Kirkwood, Sr., Bessie Love and Lucille Ricksen, a film that dealt with the dangers of narcotics addiction. Davenport took Human Wreckage on a roadshow engagement, followed up with another "social conscience" picture about excessive mother-love called Broken Laws in 1924, again billed as "Mrs. Wallace Reid" to capitalize on her husband's notorious death. She then produced The Red Kimona (1925) about white slavery. On screen she opens the film in silent narration or prologue. The details of the latter film were so realistic that Davenport was successfully sued. She would later direct Linda (1929), Sucker Money (1933), Road to Ruin (1934), and The Woman Condemned (1934) and worked as a producer, writer, and dialogue director. Among her last credits are co-author of the screenplay for Footsteps in the Fog (1955), and as dialogue director for The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) with Ginger Rogers. She and husband Wallace Reid had two children. She was married to him until his death on January 18, 1923. She never remarried. Dorothy Davenport died at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in 1977 in Woodland Hills, California. She is interred with her husband in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dorothy Davenport, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Dorothy Davenport

Movies

Footsteps in the Fog
Screenplay
A Victorian-era murder mystery about a parlour maid that discovers that her employer may have killed his first wife.
Rhubarb
Screenplay
Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet he names Rhubarb. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiancée Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb.
Impact
Writer
After surviving a murder attempt, an auto magnate goes into hiding so his wife can pay for the crime.
Who Killed Doc Robbin?
Screenplay
A group of people find themselves trapped in a creepy mansion, complete with secret passageways, a mad doctor and a murderous gorilla.
Curley
Story
The students of Lakeview Elementary devise ways to torment their new teacher. Comedy.
Redhead
Screenplay
A wealthy businessman's irresponsible son and a down-on-her-luck model enter into a marriage of convenience, and end up falling in love.
The Old Swimmin' Hole
Writer
Teenager Betty Elliott has decided to take over the business and social affairs of her father Doc Elliott. She thinks her father should marry the widowed mother, Julie Harper, of her boyfriend Chris Harper. Doc has been a real friend and father to Chris, who, under his guidance, has learned to take care of all the sick animals in town, but lack of money keeps the widow from sending Chris on to finish high school and medical training is out of the question. Wealthy Grandpa Harper sends his attorney Baker to tell Mrs. Harper that all of Jimmy's dreams could be realized if the widow, whom the grandfather dislikes, would give up custody of her son. The lawyer also begins to court Julie and this throws a kink in Betty's plans to see her father and the widow get married. Written by Les Adams
Drums of the Desert
Screenplay
On his way to a post as special adviser of the new parachute troops of the French Foreign Legion in Morocco, Paul Dumont meets the beautiful Helene on the ship. A romance ensues, but the two decide to part when Paul learns that Helene is the fiancée of his best friend and fellow officer Raoul. Raoul is wounded during an Arab attack and the wedding is postponed, and Helene and Paul are thrown together and find it impossible to hide their feelings. The meet in the tent of Hassan, a fortune teller, not knowing the tent is a storage place for arms and ammunition belonging to Addullah, an Arab leader determined to avenge the death of his brother Ben Ali.
Haunted House
Screenplay
Teenagers try to clear a friend accused of murder.
On the Spot
Screenplay
Frankie Kelly is the soda jerk and embryo scientist in Midvales only drugstore. Two murders and an attempted killing suddenly swing Midvale into national prominence. Frankie and his pal, Jefferson, become involved when a wounded gangster starts to tell them where $300,000 in stolen loot is hidden, but he is murdered before he can give them all of the information. The search is on.
Tomboy
Story
Family drama about a father raising his motherless teenage daughter in a small town.
Prison Break
Screenplay
Story of a tuna fisherman who has been wrongfully convicted of a murder he did not commit. His exemplary behavior in prison ensures that he is up for early parole. He realizes, however, that his movements will be limited, and he will be unable to join and wed his beloved. The only solution is to escape and hunt down the real killer, himself.
A Bride for Henry
Producer
On the day of her wedding a young woman's fiancé doesn't show up, sleeping off the results of the previous night's wild bachelor party. Miffed, the woman decides to go ahead with the wedding anyway to teach her fiancé a lesson, so she calls her lawyer, Henry, and has him stand in for her missing groom. She intends to divorce her new "husband" at the first opportunity, but Henry--who has been in love with her for a long time--is determined to win his "wife's" hand.
Paradise Isle
Producer
Stranded on an island, a blind artist (Warren Hull) falls in love with a native (Movita).
Honeymoon Limited
Producer
A publisher bets an author that he won't be able to write a romantic adventure novel while on a walking trip from New York to San Francisco.
Honeymoon Limited
Screenplay
A publisher bets an author that he won't be able to write a romantic adventure novel while on a walking trip from New York to San Francisco.
Women Must Dress
Story
A divorced woman finds success as a fashion designer.
Women Must Dress
Producer
A divorced woman finds success as a fashion designer.
Redhead
Producer
A girl marries a playboy from a rich family, expecting a life of comfort and luxury. However, her new father-in-law turns his ne'er-do-well son out into the street with no money, and promises the girl that if she can make a man out of her new husband, the father will give her $10,000 and see that she gets a quick divorce.
The Road to Ruin
Writer
A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion.
The Road to Ruin
Director
A young girl gets involved with a crowd that smokes marijuana, drinks and has sex. She winds up an alcoholic, pregnant drug addict and is forced to get an abortion.
The Woman Condemned
Director
Jerry Beall, a young newspaper reporter, intrigued by the charm and beauty of Barbara Hammond, a girl accused of murdering a female radio-star, sets out to prove her innocence in the face of a damaging array of circumstantial evidence, abetted by the lack of truth in many of Barbara's statements. But Barbara winds up in a romantic clinch instead of the electric chair, after a series of sequences that reveal the fallacy of jumping to conclusions.
Man Hunt
Mrs. Scott
A teen detective tries to help a jewel thief's daughter.
Sucker Money
Director
A phony spiritualist hypnotizes the daughter of a wealthy banker in a scheme to swindle the banker out of his money. A reporter investigating the swami discovers the plot, determines to expose it.
The Racing Strain
Story
A race-car driver whose career is on the skids because of his drinking falls for a rich society girl. That motivates him to clean up his act and resume his career, but it may be too late for that.
Linda
Director
A young woman is forced by her abusive father to marry an older man even though she is in love with a kindly young doctor.
Hellship Bronson
Mrs. Bronson
A ship's captain, believing that his wife has cheated on him, takes their young son and leaves her. he comes back 20 years later. His wife stows away on his ship when he leaves, hoping to see her son, who is aboard. She takes along with her Mary, the daughter of a woman the captain once loved. Complications ensue.
The Satin Woman
Mrs. Jean Taylor (as Mrs. Wallace Reid)
Dorothy Reid -- who before her marriage to ill-fated screen idol Wallace Reid was better known as Dorothy Davenport -- was both producer and star of Satin Woman. After the death of her husband from drug abuse in 1923, Davenport dedicated herself to helping others avoid the pitfalls of modern life by turning out a series of cautionary film fables. In Satin Woman, she endeavored to warn society women not to neglect their families for the sake of fads, foibles, and handsome younger men.
The Red Kimona
Producer
A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.
The Red Kimona
Writer
A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.
The Red Kimona
Woman Telling the Story (uncredited)
A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.
The Red Kimona
Director
A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.
Broken Laws
Joan Allen
Ignoring the advice of her husband, a mother indulges her son's every wish and demand all throughout his childhood. By the time she realizes her treatment of her son has spoiled him almost beyond belief, he is on trial for manslaughter.
Human Wreckage
Producer
An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.
Human Wreckage
Writer
An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.
Human Wreckage
Director
An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.
Human Wreckage
Ethel MacFarland
An attorney's wife is determined to fight the evils of addictive substances.
The Fighting Chance
Leila Mortimer
Sylvia Landis promises to marry the wealthy but unprincipled Quarrier because of his social standing. Avarice is the only emotion that Sylvia feels towards her fiance, and when she meets Stephen Siward, a young man afflicted with alcoholism, she falls in love.
His Extra Bit
The Wife
The Reid family is in a squabble over buying bonds, when the family cook tells them that even the family servants buy bonds. A fund-raising short for the United States Fourth Liberty Loan Drive in World War I.
The Squaw Man's Son
Edith, Lady Effington
Hal, now fully grown, leaves his wife Edith and his estate in England to return to the land of his Indian mother.
Treason
Luella Brysk
The enemy's success in smuggling a spy through the lines places the Stratiria armies in a dangerous position. The spy is intercepted and killed by Pettrus Baariot, the telegraph operator, who then succeeds in sending a message that saves the Stratiria forces from defeat. For his heroism, Pettrus is promised a promotion, but after his recovery from his severe wounds, he is humiliated through the treachery of Danick Rysson, a government official who desires to marry Floria Natarre, Pettrus' beloved. Bitter, Pettrus listens to the overtures of one of the enemy and steals the new telegraph code.
The Girl and the Crisis
Ellen Wilmot
Lieut. Governor Oliver Barnitz accedes to the governorship when his predecessor, failing to call out the militia during a riot at the Wilmot plant, is shot and killed by terrorist Oliver Poole. Faced with the dilemma of whether or not to commute the assassin's death sentence, Barnitz falls into a troubled sleep and dreams of being forced to cast judgment on his father in a similar position.
The Scarlet Crystal
Marie Delys
Priscilla Worth, an innocent country girl, goes to the city to visit her aunt, who has sent for her, thinking that her childlike simplicity will afford a welcome relief to Vincent Morgan, a wealthy bachelor and man-about-town. The plan works, but soon after Vincent and Priscilla's marriage, Vincent, besieged by his friends to return to his gay life and suspicious of his wife's relationship with Durant--an artist who has painted her portrait--yields to temptation.
Mothers of Men
Clara Madison
Dorothy Davenport as Clara Madison, a prominent lawyer, wins a judgeship over fellow Attorney Grant Williams, played by Willis L. Robards. Upon winning the prominent position as judge, Ms. Madison finds herself walking a political tight rope with enemies all around doing what they can to cause her down fall. Judge Madison convicts a murderer to death paving the way for her to be easily elected as the first female Governor. As Governor she is faced with a difficult dilemma. She has the power to pardon her husband who has been convicted of a serious crime, but to do so she’d be using her office for her own personal gain. “I must find some way to realize my ideals without sacrificing my husband. I must struggle on somehow for the sake of womanhood!”
The Wrong Heart
The Wrong Heart is a 1916 silent film
The Devil's Bondwoman
Beverly Hope
After a prologue that takes place in Hell, young millionaire Mason Van Horton becomes involved with Doria, the vampish wife of influential businessman John Manners. When Mason falls in love with Beverly Hope, however, he rejects Doria, who, out of revenge, tells John that Mason tried to seduce her and then begs her husband to ruin him.
Barriers of Society
Martha Gorham
When penniless Westie Phillips briefly meets wealthy Martha Gorham, he falls in love, but Martha forgets the encounter. Harry Arnold, courting Martha, invites her out sailing and arranges to have the yacht wrecked near an uncharted island so that he can be alone with her until rescuers arrive. Meanwhile, without knowing Martha is on board, Westie secures a position on the yacht.
Black Friday
Elionor Rossitor
In 1869, enemies of railroad magnate Richard Strong attempt to ruin him. Richard thwarts them, largely through the help of Charles Dalton, but then Charles tries to seduce Elinor, Richard's wife. Although she rebuffs Charles, Richard accuses her of infidelity, so Elinor leaves him and goes to Paris. Richard follows her, but, caught in the middle of the 1870 riots, he cannot get near her. Charles, also in Paris, finally convinces Richard that nothing had come of his interest in Elinor, but Richard now believes that Elinor no longer loves him.
The Unattainable
Bessie Gale
An actress falls in love with a shepherd, to the dismay of a wealthy suitor. One reel survives at the National Archives Of Canada and the Library of Congress.
A Yoke of Gold
Carner
During the days of the California missions, Jose Garcia becomes friends with Luis Lopez, a local Robin Hood determined to redistribute among the poor the loot of the rich. Inspired by Luis, Jose sets out to rob the home of wealthy landowner Don Ortega. On the way, however, Jose gets lost in the desert and is nearly dead when he is found by Don Ortega's aristocratic cousin, Castro Arrellanes, and Castro's daughter Carmen, who take him in and nurse him back to health. Jose quickly falls in love with Carmen, and as a result, renounces his plan of robbing the rich. Then, he learns that Luis has made plans to break into Don Ortega's house.
The Way of the World
Beatrice Farley
Gubernatorial candidate Walter Croyden is in love with Beatrice, but he acts obnoxiously when he drinks, so she flees to Europe to re-evaluate the relationship.
Doctor Neighbor
Hazel Rogers
Against the wishes of Doctor Neighbor, the guardian who also loves her, Hazel, who is due to inherit a fortune when she turns 21, marries district attorney Hamilton Rogers, a man more devoted to Hazel's future bank account than to her.
The Unknown
Nancy Preston
Richard Farquhar, the ne'er-do-well nephew of a titled Englishman, after a protracted "good time" finds himself penniless in an Algerian hotel. He expects money from England, but instead receives a cablegram stating his allowance has been stopped and that his uncle will have nothing further to do with him.
Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
Grand Duchess Feodora
"Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo" is an interesting play of intrigue between the Grand Duke Augustus Peter of Russia, whose incognito is Mr. Grex, an English Secret Service agent, Lord Huntersley and a young American millionaire on pleasure bent, Richard Lane. Mr. Grex and two other diplomats who unofficially represent France and Germany, plan to meet as if by chance in Monte Carlo for the purpose of arranging a secret pact.
In Humble Guise
Grace Hunt
After a lover's quarrel, writer Grace Hunt goes vacationing to a seaside resort where she decides to swap identities with a student.
The Test of Manhood
Ethel Crandall
Harry Wentworth is the profligate son of a ranch owner. His father is tired of Harry's irresponsible drinking and gambling and banishes him from home. Harry becomes a sailor, but right away gets in trouble with the captain. The hard work does him good, however, and when he feels he's had enough of the captain's brutality, he escapes overboard with a couple of friends, whom he takes to his father's ranch. Back home he discovers that his father is in danger of losing his ranch to scheming lawyer Jim Martin. Martin is in love with Ethel Crandall, the sister of gambler Ralph Crandall.
The Den of Thieves
Dorothy
Lillian is an unfortunate woman. After leaving her baby at the door of a hospital she meets David, the author of her misfortune. It is a case of starvation or the "easiest way." She chooses the "easiest way." After eighteen years she again shows up, a social outcast and a tool for David's black profession.
'Cross the Mexican Line
Dorothy West
Lieut. Wallace leaves his fiancée, Dorothy West, to cross the border with his troops into Mexico. Later he is wounded, captured and taken to the hacienda of the Mexican officer, Senor Paranze, where his wounds are dressed by Senora Paranze. The latter falls in love with the American when he defends her from her brutal husband.
A Wife on a Wager
Wally Bristow is a wealthy young chap infatuated with a heartless society girl. He discovers that she is not true to him and leaves her. At the club he runs into an argument among the members to the effect that none of them could start out with nothing and return in a year, married and successful. Wally takes his friends up on the bet. Wally goes west and secures employment on a ranch. He becomes the butt of the cow punchers jokes, and his employer's daughter thinks him a prig until, one day, she observes him thrash a ranch bully for ill-treating a dog. Soon after she promises to be his wife. The society girl, meantime, hears of it and starts west to break up the match. Arriving in the neighborhood she sends a note to her rival saying that the man is untrue to her and to go to a certain place and she will see him with another woman.
Love's Western Flight
Dorothy
For five years Dorothy had put up with her husband although all his refinement, delicacy and love had long since been drowned in drink. Dorothy had reached the turning point. She answered an advertisement calling for a leading woman to accompany a repertoire show west. She was given the position and that night left.
Passing of the Beast
The Mountie's Wife
Jacques watched through an opening in the foliage and saw Gilbert of the mounted police and his own wife exchange pleasant greetings. From that moment he hated the police officer. Gilbert was too fine-looking.
The Siren
Renee
On her deathbed, Renee's mother confides to her daughter the troubled history of her life. She was wealthy and she was loved alone for her riches. She was to be married; on her wedding day the bridegroom married another woman he really loved. She married her second choice of men and after two years, he left her.
The Quack
Mary Rohan
Dr. Frank Rosslyn, known to the world as a prominent physician, is in reality the head of a quack medical concern which dispenses patent medicines and advertises extensively.
Women and Roses
Wallace's Mistress
Wallace's mother is the faded rose, his wife the pink rose and his mistress the red rose.
The Fruit of Evil
The wife takes with her their small daughter, leaving the son to the care of the father. The forlorn woman wanders into a fishing village, and is taken into a kindly fisherman's family. To more surely separate herself from the world that knows her. She assumes her maiden name. Many years afterward the father and the son, now grown, pass through the village. The son becomes acquainted with his own sister, knowing nothing of the relationship, and falls in love with her. He persuades his father to spend his season at a summer resort nearby. Later, the son and the daughter are secretly married. The girl leaves a note for her mother, telling her of the act. The mother follows to the parsonage, and then the summer resort, where she overtakes the couple.
The Skeleton
Jack's Wife
Two friends, Tad and Jack, are conversing with each other at the Club, when Dr. Matthews, the wealthiest man in town, enters. In contemplating the rich man, the two young men speculate as to whether or not, with all his wealth, he is happy. The argument leads them to a wager. Tad bets $1,000 that there is something in the physician's life he would hate to have known, and that as a consequence he is unhappy. Jack accepts the bet.
The Test
The Poor Man's Wife
The poor man, professing love for his family, drinks what he presumes to be poison in order to make a thousand dollars for them, but the drink proves to be harmless.
A Gypsy Romance
Queen of the Gypsies
A story of the inside life of nomads who live in the shadow of civilization, worshiping their own goods and clinging to their ancient rites.
Cupid Incognito
Angela Graham
Frank Graham, rich mine owner, is fatally injured by an explosion. On his death bed he confides to his friend, Jim Blake, all his plans concerning his daughter, Angela's, future. He makes him promise to watch over her. His fortune he places in the hands of his brother, a New York banker, to be held in trust for his daughter until her wedding day; the fact of her being an heiress to be kept secret in order to insure her safety from fortune-hunters.
The Spider and Her Web
The Spider and Her Web is a 1914 silent film.
The Way of a Woman
Dorothy
Dorothy is a city girl who has chosen to teach school in the backwoods. Pierre is a product of the backwoods, a man who will allow no one to cross him in the most trivial matter, a man in whom the baser elements of character are predominant.
The Mountaineer
Dorothy - Jim's Sweetheart
A young mountaineer loves Dorothy, daughter of a backwoodsman. An artist comes into the district to paint and falls in love with Lucille, Dorothy's sister. Dorothy is interested in the artist on account of her sister's love for him, and she poses.
The Heart of the Hills
The Government Detective
Two brothers live together in the Kentucky mountains. Wally, the younger, is a wood-cutter, while Phil is a cripple. The brothers receive word from a city physician that Phil can recover from his infirmity only by means of an operation which will cost $800. The amount, however, is far larger than they ever expect to own at one time. In the meantime, Nan Leslie, of the U.S. Revenue Service, is detailed to go into the mountain districts of Kentucky and get evidence against a gang of moonshiners.
The Voice of the Viola
Dorothy
This is a story of the love of two brothers for the same girl.
Breed o' the Mountains
Sue Jarvis
Joe Mayfield and Sue Jarvis are the children of two families in the Blue Ridge Mountains, which have been at variance for years. Brady, Dorothy's brother, has had an affair with a simple mountain maid. She, unable to care for the child, lays it with a note, at what she thinks is Brady's door. In reality, she has taken it to Mayfield's cabin. He finds it, but out of love for Sue, and to spare her the reflected disgrace, he cares for it himself, keeping silent as to its parentage. The love between himself and Sue ripens. Sue is ready to forget the feud and marry him. In order to prevent this, Brady, not knowing whence the child came, accuses Mayfield of being its parent. The accused is silent and Sue turns away. Mayfield, in the meantime, is unable to stand the fruits of injustice and the taunts of Brady. He tells Brady the true parentage of the child. Brady is softened. He tells Mayfield he is going to find its mother and "Make it right."
A Flash in the Dark
Mrs. Randall
Randall is a rich mine owner whose business affairs cause him to neglect his somewhat frivolous wife. There is a mutual friend whom Randall carelessly allows to entertain his wife. As a result, the friend pays more than natural attentions to the woman. The three visit one of Randall's mines. The wife and friend go down the mining shaft in a bucket. While they are yet underground, a quantity of dynamite explodes. The mine is filled with poisonous fumes.
The Greater Devotion
The girl has three suitors: a young Mexican, who symbolizes love, a cripple, who symbolizes devotion, and a wealthy haciendiero, who symbolizes wealth. Despite the protests of Love and the pain of Devotion, the girl is given in marriage to Wealth by her father. A year lapses and the girl has suffered by her father's choosing. Wealth is faithless to her and heaps upon her head humiliation and indignity and finally brutality. Love returns to her and after listening to her story swears that he will kill Wealth, but Devotion restrains him with the advice that if he kills Wealth he can never have the girl. To insure the girl's happiness Devotion kills Wealth himself and then takes his own life.
Fires of Conscience
Ethel
Two men meet in the desert. One is in search of gold and the other seeks solace and heartsease for an unrequited love. Although they are unknown to each other, each loves the same girl, Ray, the prospector, is the chosen suitor and around his neck he carries the girl's picture. They live together in the wilds and become friends, until one night Tom sees the picture in the locket around Ray's neck. Tom's jealousy prompts him to kill Ray, but gentle thoughts of Ethel restrain his hand.
The Wheel of Life
The Prospector's Wife
The husband and his wife live alone in the mountains, where he is working out a claim. A stranger from a distant mine is injured in the vicinity. The husband nurses him back to health. During his convalescence the stranger persuades the wife to elope with him.
The Countess Betty's Mine
Countess Betty Ardmore
Counters Betty Ardmore inherits from an uncle a large mining property in the United States. At the advice of her counselor she comes to America to personally superintend the conduct of her property. Her brother, a dissolute fellow, is left out of the inheritance, but at his solicitation and promise to reform, she takes him with her.
The Intruder
The Woodsman's Sweetheart
Much to the delight of the simple old father, his daughter becomes engaged to a big-hearted mountaineer. He builds their hut in the wilderness, and she is happy, though she often dreams of the great world outside. Then comes the intruder from the city, a man of the world. He obtains hoard at the girl's home. He blinds her eyes to the beautiful things of the; woods with his talk of pretty places and things of the great world without. He tempts and wins her away from the big-hearted backwoodsman. The young mountaineer, who has been working on his cabin, returns and finds the old man dozing and the girl gone.
A Hopi Legend
An old arrowmaker's daughter, while at the stream, meets a brave from another tribe. They become enamored of each other in the sudden positive way of the savage, and agree to meet at sunset. The chief of the tribe to which the girl belongs, covets and demands her of her father. The father consents, but the girl rebels. At sunset, she meets her lover and tells him what her fate is to be. He tells her that when the moon shines, he will come for her and take her away.
The Lightning Bolt
Dot
Held and Brady are fellow officers of the mounted police, and both love the same girl, while Brady's affection is overshadowed by a deep hatred for his rival. The two men are dispatched into the surrounding forests to look for timber fires.
A Cracksman Santa Claus
Dot
The cracksman is discouraged and cynical. It is Christmas Eve. He takes his revolver and starts out in quest of gain. Dot gets home, tired out and distressed because she has been discharged from the store. Her crippled sister hangs up her stocking and prays for the morrow. It is too much for Dot. She goes out to secure money for a present at any cost. Passing the window of a mansion, she observes a man give a woman a necklace. In the hurried departure, it is left behind. The temptation is too strong: she gets through the window and secures the necklace, only to be confronted by the cracksman, who has entered another way and pretends to be the owner. She tells her sad tale.
Retribution
Dorothy
Dorothy and her father have staked all their hopes on their mine. While they are awaiting the arrival of Mr. Reid, who is to report on the value of the mine, Pedro, a Mexican, makes familiar advances to Dorothy and is sternly repulsed. Reid arrives and a mutual attraction springs up between himself and Dorothy, to the chagrin of Pedro.
The Fires of Fate
Dot - Wally's Sweetheart
The young doctor, spending most of his time in charity work, is particularly interested in the case of a poor mother who must send her child away for its health. This brings him into contact with the owner of the tenement and he endeavors to persuade him to improve conditions. He is refused. But, the owner's daughter has overheard this refusal and she determined to investigate the trouble herself.
The Cracksman's Reformation
Dorothy
Dorothy informs the cracksman that when he has finally renounced his life of thieving he may return to her and claim her. The cracksman resolves to be worthy of her. In his home he doubts his ability to reform and takes out his revolver. A vision of the girl comes to him and he is about to cast it aside when a tray of gleaming jewels crosses his vision. His resolution wavers. He places the gun in his pocket and sallies out.
The Spark of Manhood
The Spark of Manhood
Pierre of the North
Mary McKenzie - the Factor's Daughter
Pierre and Baptiste, French-Canadian half-breed trappers, are enamored of Mary, the factor's daughter. Both men propose to the girl, both are refused. Baptiste, mad with jealous rage, abducts the girl and carries her off to a lonely cabin in the wilderness. She defies him, throws his proffered ring at him and is chained to the floor to change her mind.
His Only Son
Jessie Carter
Bob Madden returns home slightly intoxicated and his father angrily commands him to leave the place and shift for himself. The next morning he goes, leaving his father a note: "Dear Dad, I am going out West and try to make a man of myself. I hope some day you will be proud of me. Your son. Bob."
Her Indian Hero
Veda Mead
The Chief's son, Silver Water, returns from college and is met at the station by the tribe. The Indians make merry to celebrate his homecoming. Hal Benton, an easterner, rides on to ask his way to the hotel, where he is stopping with some friends, among them his fiancée, Veda Mead, and her father. Knowing that the Indian ceremonies will interest his friends, Hal obtains permission to come the next day and bring his friends. The Chief calls Morning Star, an Indian maiden, telling his son that she is to be his squaw. Silver Water is pleased with her. The next day Hal Benton and his friends arrive. While the others inspect the camp, Veda Mead amuses herself with Silver Water and ere long is thoroughly infatuated with him, while the Indian's vanity is touched by the attentions of the society coquette, and he promises to meet her the next day. Their little tete-a-tete is cut short by the entrance of Morning Star.
A Brave Little Woman
Clara Lyttell
Daniel Lyttell is very ill, but Doctor Bozel assures Clara that the crisis is over and that her husband will eventually get well. In the dead of the night, a burglar enters the Lyttell home. His silent footsteps reach the ear of the sick man. Clara, too, hears mysterious noises. She pacifies Daniel and tells him to rest and sleep. Softly she steals out of the room to investigate and soon discovers the burglar. Quickly rushes to the telephone, but finds that the wires have been cut. For a moment she hesitates and fears, fears for her husband. Goes to his bedside and rejoices to find him asleep. Hastily dons a wrap and envelops her head in a black veil, leaves the room and busies herself rummaging in the drawers of a desk. The burglar comes upon her but is unable to intimidate the brave little woman. Clara tells him she, too, is a thief; only she came to steal very important letters. When the man attempts to go into the bedroom for his "haul," she commands him to stay where he is.
The Golden Supper
Flower Girl
Julian loves his cousin and foster sister Camilla, who is wooed and won by Lionel, his friend and rival. He is a witness to their marriage and after the ceremony he departs heartbroken to his own house. Utopian was the existence of Lionel and Camilla, until some time later Camilla is seized with a serious illness, and Lionel's grief knew no bounds when he heard "That low knell tolling his lady dead." "She had lain three days without a pulse all that look'd on her had pronounced her dead, So they bore her, for in Julian's land they never nail a dumb head up in elm, bore her free-faced to the free airs of heaven, and laid her in the vault of her own kin." Julian learns of the death of Camilla, and hastens to the house, arriving in time to see the funeral cortège moving slowly towards the sepulcher. Following in its wake he exclaims, "Now, now, will 1 go down into the grave; I will be all alone with all I love."
A Gold Necklace
A Friend
Mazie lends her necklace to Nellie, her guest. Nellie is asleep in a hammock when Sam, her sweetheart, arrives in his auto. He awakens Nellie with a kiss. As she starts up she drops the necklace in the grass and their efforts to find it prove futile. Sam promises to buy her one to replace it, thinking it was her own properly. He has her minutely describe it that he may get an exact duplicate. Meanwhile, the governess has found the necklace and given it to its owner, Mazie, who is unknown to Sam. He sees it on Mazie's neck and after a chase insists on purchasing it.
The Man Within
A man is a fugitive from the law. A reward of $2,000 is offered for his capture. A large posse is on his trail. Weary, hungry and haunted, the refugee is slowly but surely being hemmed in.