User Reviews

A well-told story and well staged and acted. Louise Vale has the role of Valentine, who as a young woman brings into the world a son, who immediately is taken from her by her mother, the Countess. Hers is a skillful portrayal of the woman who loses prospective husband and is robbed of her, or their, son, only to be confronted twenty or more years later with a reminder of her early misfortunes in the guise of the real son, but actually a swindler, trading on both her maternal love and her fear of discovery by her banker husband and young daughter. Franklin Ritchie is Louis, who becomes master of the family estate following the death of his father and the disappearance of his brother, Valentine's lover, when in self defense he has too vigorously taken his own part against his rival. It is Louis who aspires to rob Valentine through imposing on her one of his confederates when later in life, after dissipating his fortune, he has fallen into evil ways. William Jefferson is Raoul, the bogus son. Jack Drumier is Fauvel, the husband of Valentine. Hector V. Sarno is Lecoq. Alan Hale is Prosper, the clerk of Fauvel, wrongly accused of robbing his employer's vault. Gretchen Hartman is Madeleine, the daughter of Fauvel, and in love with Prosper. There are dramatic situations. One that particularly stands out is where the smooth Louis brings Raoul to the home of Valentine and introduces him to the matron as the son she had not seen since the hour of his birth. Here is a real opportunity for strong acting. A thrilling scene is the battle with pistols when the two thieves quarrel over the spoils. The lamp is extinguished; the flashes vividly show what is happening. The ending is a happy one. Lecoq, in the office of the police chief, tells Valentine Raoul is not her son; furthermore, Fauvel continues to believe Raoul was only a nephew; Valentine's great secret remains a secret. - The Moving Picture World, February 13, 1915