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The Idler
(1914) United States of America
B&W : One reel
Directed by Tefft Johnson
Cast: S. Rankin Drew [Victor O’Flynn], Tefft Johnson [Jim O’Flynn], Rose Tapley [Mrs. O’Flynn], Julia Swayne Gordon [Mrs. Upton], Darwin Karr [Mr. Upton], Bobby Connelly [Victor O’Flynn, as a child]
The Vitagraph Company of America production; distributed by The General Film Company, Incorporated. / From a story by Elaine Sterne (Elaine S. Carrington). / Released 19 March 1914. / Standard 35mm spherical 1.33:1 format.
Drama.
Synopsis: [?] [From The Moving Picture World]? A poor mother of five children offers the youngest for adoption. The newspapers hear of it and publish it as an unusual case. Mrs. Upton reads the article. She and her husband are wealthy and childless, and she persuades her husband to go with her to see the child. They find the tenement where Mrs. O’Flynn lives. The mother tells them Victor’s father was a good man, not dissipated, but inclined to idleness. Mrs. Upton is immediately charmed with the child and after arrangements are made, Mrs. O’Flynn parts tearfully with it. Jim O’Flynn, in the meantime, returns home, learns his youngest child has been adopted, takes what little money the poor woman has left and departs in an ugly mood. Victor is showered with every attention and soon becomes a spoiled child. Fifteen years later, his foster-father receives notice that his son failed to pass his college examinations. Victor is sent home. Mr. Upton gives him a position in his office. He displays some of the characteristics of his father. He then puts Victor to work in the machine shop, where he will not have time to idle. He has a quarrel with the foreman. His father, angry and disappointed, writes out a check for $5,000, hands it to Victor and tells him, “When that’s spent, you needn’t come back.” Victor loses the money gambling and wires his mother for more. Mr. Upton learns the import of the message and telegraphs him a refusal. Victor, unable to find work, is homeless and penniless. Incidentally, he meets his own father, who is a veritable hobo, and to his horror, learns the truth. The boy decides to ask Mr. Upton for another chance. Mr. Upton, seeing that Victor has learned a lesson, receives him cordially. Victor conquers his inherited tendency and shows his gratitude to his foster-parents, proving himself a valuable business man and an everlasting credit to those who have cared for him.
Survival status: Print exists in the George Eastman Museum film archive.
Current rights holder: Public domain [USA].
Listing updated: 7 May 2020.
References: Sloan-Loud p. 149 : Website-IMDb.
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