The Father of Her Child (1916)

• 48%
• 1916
• Drama
• Gibson Gowland
• Alva D. Blake
• Ethel Calvert

Marion, who has kept house for her father since her mother's death, has two suitors, Rufus Strong, the village blacksmith, and Eph Little, the village beau brummel. She favors the latter and marries him. After their marriage Eph becomes a loafer, and Marion does the work, greatly to her father's disgust. One of the village boys has become a sailor and comes home with the wonderful tales of the sights he has seen, and Eph decides that that is the only thing that will make a man of him. He steals off with the family wealth. The father, hearing someone moving about in the living room, decides to investigate, and gets to the door in time to see Eph remove the money from the old sock, but doesn't stop him as he is glad to get rid of him. Months later the villagers learn that the ship on which Eph sailed was lost with every soul aboard, and immediately inform Marion. After a long period of mourning, Marion marries Rufus, but still worships her dead hero. Meanwhile Eph is tossed up on an unchartered island, and is rescued by the natives, and being the only white man on the island, is worshiped by all of the women, much to the displeasure of the natives. A ship being blown out of her course by a storm, sends ashore for water, and the captain offers to take Eph back to civilization, but he is too well pleased where he is, and refuses to go with them. As the crew starts back for the ship the natives beg them to take the bad man away, which they finally succeed in doing. Like the proverbial bad penny Eph turns up and walks right into the house, not knowing that his wife has re-married and has a child, but notwithstanding this fact she rushes into his arms like a happy child. Rufus tells Marion to choose between he and their child or Eph, and she decides to stick to the father of her child.