AllMovie

The reviewer for the trade magazine Variety offered the "revelation" that The Spindle of Life was based on Sidney Robinson's novel Gladsome, though anyone who saw the film's opening credits would have figured this out for himself. Neva Gerber starred as Gladsome, an uninhibited hoyden who likes to hang out with the local fishermen. While Gladsome larks and plays, her mother Mrs. Harrison (Jessie Pratt) falls under the influence of her business manager James Bradshaw (Winter Hall), who plots and plans to gain control of the old lady's fortune by marrying the heroine off to his feckless son Vincent (Hayward Mack). Fortunately, Gladsome is spared this fate when she falls in love with wealthy stockbroker "Alphabet" Carter (Ben Wilson). Evidently, a genuine fishing village was brought into service as the backdrop for The Spindle of Life.