AllMovie

The scenario to this pacifist allegory was written by its star, Crane Wilbur, and it voices America's reluctance to involve itself in the European War -- later to be known as World War I. Kindheart (Wilbur) is a peace-loving shepherd who wants nothing to do with war. He marries Devotion (Celia Sandston) and, even though other men call him a coward, he stays home from battle to care for his wife. But when the fighting reaches his home and soldiers kill Devotion and her parents, he leaps into the fray. Kindheart finds the soldiers that killed his family and wreaks vengeance. His blood lust raised, he immerses himself in the war's brutalities. But the day comes when he kills Devotion's brother, Valor. The battles have completely ravaged the countryside and a sadder but wiser Kindheart returns to his ruined little hut and his untended flock.