Name: Acquitted
Released: 1916
Cast: Wilfred Lucas, Mary Alden, Bessie Love, Carmen De Rue, Elmer Clifton

Brief Synopsis

A man seeks out an old friend and enters his home only to be sucked into an all-consuming malady that originates in the soul of a beautiful and treacherous woman.

Cast & Crew

Film Details

Release Date

Feb 6, 1916

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Fine Arts Film Co.

Distribution Company

Triangle Film Corp.

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the short story "Acquitted" by Mary Roberts Rinehart in Pearson's (Feb 1907).

Technical Specs

Sound

Silent

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.33 : 1

Film Length

5 reels

Synopsis

John Carter, a hard-working insurance company bookkeeper, comes home Easter eve to his suburban cottage with a potted lily for his loving wife and two daughters. The Carters live happily until cashier Charles Ryder is murdered by the night watchman, a "coke sniffer" in need of money, and Carter is accused because he worked with Ryder that evening. During intense third-degree police questioning, Carter acts guilty, but cub reporter Ned Fowler, who loves Carter's daughter Helen, intervenes. After the watchman, arrested for fighting and in need of drugs, confesses, Carter is released, but insurance company president Ira Wolcott will not reinstate him because of his notoriety. During the next year, Carter fails to find work because of his age. As Easter approaches and his life insurance premium becomes due, Carter decides to kill himself in a gas-filled hotel room, so that his starving family can collect the insurance money. When Carter's little daughter Nellie strays into Wolcott's yard, Wolcott learns about Carter's plight and rescues him. Carter returns to work, and Helen becomes engaged to Ned.