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Her Stepchildren
(1915) United States of America
B&W : Short film
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Charles Perley [Doctor Lambert], Vera Sisson [Rose], Jack Mulhall [Frank], Gretchen Hartman [the stepmother], G. Raymond Nye [Philip Ray], W.C. Robinson [Frank’s friend], Robert Nolan [Frank’s friend], Helen Bray [a nurse], Vola Amith (Vola Vale), Rea Martin
Biograph Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Released 14 December 1915. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Doctor Lambert, a widower, has two grown children, Rose and Frank. Having lacked a mother’s care during much of their life, the children are willful and disobedient. So, when the doctor marries again, he is somewhat nervous about the reception which his children will accord their stepmother. Rose treats her rudely; Frank is hardly more courteous. Strained relations exist in the household. Rose meets Philip Ray, a dissipated bachelor, and he calls on her. The acquaintance ripens, and one day Mrs. Lambert, entering the drawing room, surprises Rose in Ray’s arms. After Ray is gone, she is apologizing to Rose for her awkward intrusion when the doctor enters and, remarking that he has seen Ray leave the house, tells his daughter that she must not see him again, as he has a bad reputation. Rose is indignant, and at the first opportunity she meets Ray in secret at the end of the garden. Screened behind a trellis, Mrs. Lambert is sewing when she hears voices and sees Rose with Ray. She hears Ray ask the girl to visit him, and later, when she attempts to dissuade Rose from entertaining her lover, she is flouted by the girl. Rose leaves the house, and Mrs. Lambert follows her. Ray lives in a bachelor apartment house frequented by young bloods. Frank has friends in the building, with whom he plays cards for large sums of money. He has lost $100 to Ed Sands and has received a note hinting that his father will be told if he does not pay up. He goes to see Sands about it, preceding Rose by a few moments. Rose enters Ray’s apartment and is quickly disillusioned about the man, for he attempts to bend her to his will. She is helpless when Mrs. Lambert walks into the room. Rose, mortified, refuses her stepmother’s aid, tells her that this is her own affair, and is going to say more when, through the window, she sees her father entering the building. Frank, leaving his friends, has seen his stepmother enter Ray’s apartment, and has telephoned for his father. Mrs. Lambert hides Rose behind the hangings and faces her husband as he enters. She realizes that it is a delicate situation, but is quite unprepared for her husband’s refusal to listen to explanations. Doctor Lambert casts her off and strides out. Rose slips away unseen, and Ray laughs as Mrs. Lambert staggers from the room. Time passes, and Rose confesses to her father. The doctor hires detectives to search for his wife, but they cannot find her. She is in a hospital, where her baby is born. Later, when the child is dying for lack of medical attention, she brings it to the doctor’s doorstep, rings the bell and flees. The nurse takes the baby indoors, where it is examined by the doctor. The mother, watching through a window, hears her husband say that the child will live, and in her Joy she faints. She is found lying under the window, and is reconciled with those for whom she has made such great sacrifices.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 7 January 2025.
References: Spehr-American p. 2 : Website-IMDb.
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