A 12-minute silent film where a woman runs from her past—and her husband's reaction will shock you.
Nellie flees her old life and goes east to become a nurse, where she marries a doctor. One of her old colleagues finds her and tries to blackmail her. When the blackmail plot is exposed, Nellie's husband expresses his complete faith in her.
Acting
Florence Lawrence's expressive face carries entire plot.
Direction
Griffith already inventing the close-up for emotion.
Director
D.W. Griffith
Florence Lawrence
Nellie Burton
Charles Inslee
Jim Colt
Herbert Prior
Dinner Guest / In Bar
Linda Arvidson
Dinner Guest
Charles Avery
Dinner Guest
Kate Bruce
Raymond Hatton
In Bar
Arthur V. Johnson
The Doctor
Jeanie Macpherson
David Miles
Mexican
Owen Moore
Dinner Guest / In Bar / In Hospital
John R. Cumpson
In Bar
Barry O'Moore
Mexican
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Florence Lawrence was cinema's first named star, though Biograph kept her anonymous—audiences called her 'The Biograph Girl.'
This was Griffith's 68th film in 1909 alone; he was essentially inventing film grammar on an assembly line.
US
