Name: The Silent Witness
Released: 1917
Cast: Gertrude Mccoy, Frank O'connor, Edwin Fosberg, Junius Mathews, Aphie James

Cast & Crew

Film Details

Release Date

Sep 1, 1917

Premiere Information

not available

Production Company

Authors' Film Co.

Distribution Company

M. H. Hoffman, Inc.; Foursquare Pictures, Inc.

Country

United States

Screenplay Information

Based on the play The Silent Witness by Otto Hauerbach (New York, 10 Aug 1916).

Synopsis

Janet Rigsby loves Richard Morgan, a Denver college student, but loses him when he is caught in a fire. Shortly after Richard's presumed demise, Janet leaves her home and bears a son out of wedlock. Over the years, she struggles to make ends meet while raising Bud, her son, on her own. Although her savings are small, Janet manages to send Bud to college. Chastised for his poverty and illegitimate birth, Bud, who is in love with the college gardener's daughter, suffers the ridicule of his peers and eventually comes to blows with and threatens one particular boy for insulting his mother. In the ensuing confrontation, the boy is killed and Bud is arrested for the crime. During the course of the trial, Bud discovers that the district attorney is Richard Morgan, his father. The testimony of one expert witness reveals how the murder in truth was committed, and a liberated Bud happily reunites with his mother and new-found father.