The Fair Barbarian (1917)

• 83%
• 1917
• Comedy
• Robert Thornby
• Vivian Martin
• Clarence Geldart
• Douglas MacLean

An Englishman who has made his fortune in America decides to return to England. He takes his daughter, Octavia, to pay a visit to her relatives, especially Miss Belinda Bassett, an aunt whom she has never seen. The father is called to America by an important business cable, and Octavia goes on alone to her aunt. Slowbridge, the home of this aunt, is a sleepy little English village whose snobbish small town aristocracy is headed by the pompous Lady Theobald. Lady Theobald has everyone under her thumb, including Miss Bassett and her own granddaughter, Lucia, a sweet, shy English girl. Octavia has about the effect of a dynamite bomb in Slowbridge. Her dresses, her breezy ways, her unconventional conduct, all infuriate Lady Theobald, and at first terrify her aunt. Little by little, however, Octavia becomes a general favorite. She enjoys engineering a love affair between the bashful Lucia and a fine young man, who because he is a mere manufacturer, and not a "gentleman of leisure," has no social standing in Slowbridge. The worst blow to Lady Theobald comes when her nephew, Captain Barold, becomes exceedingly fond of Octavia. His manner of demonstrating his affection does not please Octavia, for he seems to feel that he is doing her a tremendous favor in bestowing his affection upon her. She decides to teach him a lesson. Lady Theobald wants Captain Barold to marry her niece, Lucia. Lucia, however, is in love with the manufacturer. Lady Theobald is horrified when she sees Octavia snatching this wonderful catch away from Lucia. Just when Slowbridge is about to blow up with agitation, Captain Barold puts his fortune to the test. He asks Octavia to marry him. She refuses, thereby succeeding in injuring his bump of conceit. Octavia's father arrives with the news that he is more than a millionaire; that his mining stock has recently doubled in value. With him comes Jack Belsays, an energetic American youth who is a type as foreign to Slowbridge as Octavia. What is the surprise of the small township to learn that Octavia has been engaged to Jack all the time, and never at all anxious to fasten herself upon English small town society or to intrude into their affairs. A marriage ceremony follows in Miss Bassett's little villa with young Poppleton, the curate officiating. Through Octavia's good offices, another wedding follows later, that of Lucia and the young manufacturer, whom even Lady Theobald has come to realize is fully worthy of respect, and of the hand of her granddaughter, Lucia.