Hester Bevins is a simple country girl who yearns for adventure. Though she has a handsome young man, Jerry, who is devoted to her, she leaves her village and goes to New York in search of a grander life. There she becomes the lover of a wealthy and unscrupulous businessman. But when Jerry returns blinded and dying from the war, Hester must choose between her new life and the man whose loyalty to her has never failed.
Direction
Borzage turns soap into poetry—shadows become judgment.
Acting
Seena Owen's face: every conflicted thought, no title card needed.
Director
Frank Borzage
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Partially lost—only two of six reels survive, making the ending's emotional punch almost ghostlike.
Borzage made three versions of this 'fallen woman redeems herself through suffering' story; 1922 was his most morally punitive.
US
