Name: The Hope Chest
Released: 1918
Cast: Dorothy Gish, George Fawcett, Richard Barthelmess, Sam De Grasse, Kate Toncray

Cast & Crew

Film Details

Release Date

Dec 29, 1918

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

New Art Film Co.

Distribution Company

Famous Players-Lasky Corp.; Paramount Pictures

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the novel The Hope Chest by Mark Lee Luther (Boston, 1918).

Technical Specs

Sound

Silent

Color

Black and White

Film Length

4,686ft (5 reels)

Synopsis

Sheila Moore, the daughter of impoverished vaudeville actor Lew Moore, works as a waitress in a chocolate manufacturer's candy shop, where she delights the customers with her tomboyish antics. The proprietor's son, Tom Ballantyne, realizing that Sheila is excessively fond of dancing, asks her out without the benefit of a proper introduction, and she indignantly refuses. Soon afterwards, however, the two fall in love and secretly marry. Sheila's father insists that Tom's parents be informed, but when the young groom breaks the news, they react with such anger that Tom leaves home. Meanwhile, Sheila remains with the Ballantynes as their ward on the condition that she keep her marriage and her lineage a secret. One evening, Sheila decides to visit her father's theater but is discovered there by the Ballantynes. Exasperated, she vents her anger at the snobbish family and returns home with her father, but Tom follows her, and in the end, all of the parties are reconciled.