The Unknown Quantity (1919)

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Synopsis by Janiss Garza

Greedy millionaire Septimus Kinsolving (Harry Davenport) forces flour prices to rise, bankrupting several bakers, including Thomas Boyne (Jack Ridgeway). This hardship hits the Boynes very hard -- Thomas loses his mind, his son Sammy (Jack McLean) gets in trouble when he starts hanging around some criminal types, and daughter Mary (Corinne Griffith, the picture's star) has to work long hours as a seamstress, much to the dismay of her loyal friend Peter Kenwitz (Frederick Buckley). Eventually Kinsolving dies, and his son Dan (Huntley Gordon) returns from Europe. Dan feels badly about the way his father handled business and asks Peter for advice. Peter tells him that irreparable damage has already been done, and takes him to see Mary so he can understand. Mary views him with hostility and practically throws him out. But she soon finds that a high-powered lawyer has been hired to get Sammy out of his troubles, and her father is restored to sanity when he is admitted to an expensive sanitarium. Dan, who has become smitten with Mary, is responsible for all this, and Mary marries him. This excellent picture was based on an O. Henry story and surprisingly, was treated as a regular programmer -- Vitagraph could, and should, have given it special treatment, but didn't.