Testimony (1920)

MPAA Rating - NR
  • AllMovie Rating
  • User Ratings (0)
  • Your Rating

Share on

Synopsis by Janiss Garza

In spite of its title, there are no courtrooms in this British-made drama. It concerns the relationship between a young farmer, Gillian Lyons (David Hawthorne), his wife Althea May (Ivy Duke), and his mother Rachel (Mary Rorke). Althea has come to the village as the new school teacher, and Lyons has fallen in love with her. Mrs. Lyons, who had a domesticated hausfrau of a girl picked out for her boy, thoroughly disapproves of the modern young woman from the city. Lyons marries her anyway and the tension between the two ladies is keenly felt. Althea doesn't understand the duties of a farmer's wife and doesn't care either. When she has a baby, she and her mother-in-law argue over its care, and Mrs. Lyons leaves. The baby becomes ill and even though Mrs. Lyons returns, it still dies. Ma-in-law makes life unbearable for Althea, so when the girl hears that her uncle wants her to keep house for him and inherit his fortune -- providing she's still single -- she leaves. But the truth comes out and the uncle sends her away. She returns to her husband's village, where she and Rachel come to terms. Lyons, who has been searching for Althea, comes back and they are reconciled.