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A Modern Portia
(1912) United States of America
B&W : One reel / 1060 feet
Directed by (unknown)
Cast: Richard Morris [Earl Manning, also known as John White], Eleanor Middleton [Mrs. Earl Manning], Harry Myers [Doctor Warren Bradley], May Buckley [May Manning]
Lubin Manufacturing Company production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / Produced by Siegmund Lubin. / Released 8 June 1912. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format. / The film was released in the United Kingdom in one reel (at 1060 feet) on 1 August 1912.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? Earl Manning, a young English businessman, is called out of town. He kisses his wife and child, and departs on his trip. In the next town he is knocked down by an auto and rendered unconscious. The doctors restore him, but Manning has lost all knowledge of his identity, calling himself John White. He tramps from place to place and seeks for work. He at last secures a job as stoker on a ship bound for America. His wife and little daughter, May, wait in vain for his return. Finally believing that he is dead, they sell out the household effects, sail for America to open a boarding house. A few years later May studies for the bar and becomes a lawyer. Warren Bradley, a young doctor, falls in love with her. Manning (John White) later takes a job as stevedore at the docks in the city where his family lives. He has become gray and is marked with a bad scar, the result of the auto accident. One day in an altercation with another stevedore he knocks the fellow off the wharf. The man is rendered unconscious, taken to the hospital, and Manning is arrested. May, witnessing the preliminary hearing, offers to defend him at the trial. She goes home and tells her mother and Doctor Bradley of the case and urges them to be present at the trial. The prosecuting attorney works a strong case against Manning. When the poor prisoner is brought in May and her mother stare at him searchingly. They call him by name, but Manning fails to recognize them. May puts up a powerful defense and the prisoner is discharged and taken home to the wife’s boarding house. The stevedore, angry at the result of the trial, follows and, for revenge, shoots at Manning. The shot hits him on the head and he falls unconscious. Doctor Bradley attends him and upon recovery the patient’s memory comes back and he calls for his wife and child. The end is happiness for all.
Survival status: (unknown)
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Keywords: Amnesia - Lawyers
Listing updated: 5 January 2025.
References: Ball-Shakespeare pp. 149, 340, 388 : Website-IMDb.
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