AllMovie

Norma Talmadge, already a star but not yet a STAR, played the eponymous heroine in 1916's Martha's Vindication. To protect the reputation of her best friend Dorothea (Seena Owen, Martha claims that she is the mother of the friend's illegitimate baby. Even though she is ostracized and condemned by the community in general and fire-and-brimstone preacher Hunt (Ralph Lewis) in particular, Martha refuses to tell the whole story, nor will she permit her friend -- now happily married and the mother of a legitimate child -- to speak up. Only Martha's sweetheart William (Charles West) stands by her in her hour of need, and even he has his doubts. But as indicated by the film's title, Martha is eventually proven to be as pure as the driven snow.