Silent era melodrama where a telephone operator gets thrown under the carriage for family status—then inherits a MINING FORTUNE. Karma works fast in 1918.
Unknown to his proud and wealthy family, Granger Hollister marries Margery Harding, a telephone operator. Granger presents his new wife at an engagement party given for his sister Jane, but Jane's fiance, Lord Cecil Graydon, threatens to break off the betrothal unless Granger's marriage is annulled. To please his sister, Granger sacrifices Margery, who seeks work and later gives birth to a child. Following the baby's death, Margery goes West, where she befriends an old miner who later leaves her his fortune. Meanwhile, Granger becomes involved in a fraudulent mining deal, and because of George Osborne's perjured testimony, he is sent to prison for five years. When he escapes, Margery agrees to hide him and is ultimately responsible for obtaining his pardon. Granger then remarries the wife he once abandoned.
Acting
Louise Glaum's face does what dialogue cannot—devastating close-ups.
Direction
Worsley crams a lifetime of suffering into 50 minutes.
Costume
Telephone operator vs. mining heiress wardrobe evolution hits different.
Director
Wallace Worsley
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was John Gilbert's breakout year—he'd soon become the biggest romantic lead of the silent era before talkies cruelly intervened.
Telephone operators were one of the few respectable jobs for working-class women in 1918, making Margery's fall and rise a very specific class anxiety fantasy.
US
