Another entry in Vitagraph's "O. Henry" series, The Changing Woman starred Hedda Nova as New Orleans opera diva Nina Girard. In South America on a concert tour, Nina falls in love with fellow American John Armstrong (J. Frank Glendon), but he has resolved to forsake romance until he has made his fortune. Taking along Nina's picture for company, Armstrong heads to the mountains in search of gold. Later on, a tribe of opera-loving Indians kidnap Nina and spirit her away to the selfsame mountains, where they demand that she sing the "Jewel Song" from Faust. Her forced aria attracts the attention of Armstrong, who races to her rescue. As he transports her from the high altitudes to sea level, Nina's personality undergoes a series of unpredictable changes, and by the time they've returned to civilization she has sworn off opera in favor of "hot" jazz tunes, indication enough that her morals have loosened rather dramatically in the course of her downward journey. Figuring that Nina's behavior is entirely dependent on the altitude, Armstrong takes her back into the high mountains, where she returns to her old, virtuous, coloratura self!
by Hal Erickson
synopsis
