Comedy was not the forte of great character actor Lionel Barrymore, and this picture, based on the novel by Arnold Bennett, suffers as a result. When his valet, Henry Leek (Thomas Braidon) dies, famed English artist Priam Farll (Barrymore) takes on his identity to escape the grasping romantic clutches of Lady Sophia Entwistle (Octavia Broske). He attends his own funeral but escapes before the tearful Lady Sophia can see him. Later Farll, as Leek, meets widow Alice Challice (Doris Rankin, Barrymore's real-life wife), who had answered a matrimonial ad of the valet's. They fall in love and marry, but to Farll's dismay, he is forced to return to painting to make money. Even though he is recognized through his work he is loathe to admit his real identity until it develops that Leek already had a wife and two children. Finally he proves that he is Farll, but only if he is allowed to officially remain dead so that Lady Sophia will stay away.
by Janiss Garza
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