Mary Pickford was an extra and somehow still out-acted everyone.
A society couple, neglect their young daughter in favor of their social life. When the girl becomes seriously ill, the father realizes the errors of his ways and stays home with her, demanding his wife do likewise. She sneaks out to a dance and the child takes a turn for the worse. By the time she returns home the child is dead. After her husband leaves her, the mother realizes her selfishness and begs forgiveness at her daughter's grave.
Acting
Marion Leonard's dramatic collapse at the grave — silent film chops.
Direction
Griffith's cross-cutting between party and deathbed still works.
Director
D.W. Griffith
James Kirkwood
Mr. Nostrand
Marion Leonard
Mrs. Nostrand
Adele DeGarde
The Nostrand's Daughter
Kate Bruce
The Nurse
George Nichols
The Doctor
Mary Pickford
An Extra
Linda Arvidson
Donald Crisp
At the Club
Gladys Egan
Robert Harron
At the Club
Arthur V. Johnson
At the Ball / At the Soiree
Florence La Badie
Owen Moore
At the Club
Billy Quirk
At the Ball
Gertrude Robinson
At the Soiree
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mary Pickford appears uncredited as an extra, two years before becoming 'America's Sweetheart' and the most powerful woman in Hollywood.
This is pure 1909 'maternal sacrifice' propaganda — films of this era loved punishing women for having social lives outside the home.
US
