Name: According to Law
Released: 1916
Cast: Mildred Gregory, Howard Hall, E. K. James, Madison Weeks, Alan Robinson

Brief Synopsis

Cast & Crew

Film Details

Release Date

Mar 6, 1916

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Gaumont Co.

Distribution Company

Mutual Film Corp.; Mutual Masterpictures De Luxe Edition

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Sound

Silent

Color

Black and White

Film Length

5 reels

Synopsis

Social butterfly Isabel Bland does not want children, while her wealthy, reclusive husband Robert desires some. They drift apart, and after Isabel learns of Robert's involvement with another woman, she divorces him and goes to their Florida island summer home, while Robert retires to the Everglades, leaving his business with his unscrupulous brother John. When Robert learns that Isabel's old sweetheart, William Proctor, is coming to visit their island home, his love for Isabel returns. He goes there and during a storm, sees Isabel passionately embracing Proctor. A flash of lightning illuminating Robert's face on the window pane strengthens Isabel's resolve to resist Proctor. She reconciles with Robert and after a year, dies giving birth to their daughter Bella. Twenty years later, when Bella rejects her cousin Ralph's proposal, Ralph's father John proclaims that because Bella's parents never remarried, she is illegitimate and not Robert's lawful heir. Judge Randolph, the father of her sweetheart, Sidney Austin, learns that because the court fees were never paid, the divorce decree is invalid. With her legitimacy proven, Bella marries Austin.