1921 silent drama where love battles a mother-in-law from hell — and loses.
Artist Mary McLeod, while returning to New York, discovers she has lost her train ticket; young Phillip Dominick, a millionaire playboy, offers her his drawing room, posing as her brother, and their friendship in time develops into love. They are married, and Phillip takes his bride to his wealthy mother, on whom he is financially dependent. Mrs. Dominick, however, has plans to separate the couple and marry Phillip to a society girl, and though Mary begs him to take her away, she agrees to remain until the birth of her baby. The grandmother assumes full charge of the child, but despite careful nursing the child dies, and a subsequent misunderstanding causes Mary to leave. Phillip finds her and promises to start a new life in their own home on his own resources.
Acting
Ethel Clayton's expressive eyes do all the talking.
Direction
Taylor's final film before his infamous unsolved murder.
Director
William Desmond Taylor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was director William Desmond Taylor's final completed film; he was murdered in 1922 in one of Hollywood's most infamous unsolved cases.
The 'cruel mother-in-law' trope peaked in 1920s cinema as women gained voting rights and threatened patriarchal family structures.
US
