The Rocky Road (1910)

• 53%
• 1910
• Drama
• D.W. Griffith
• Frank Powell
• Stephanie Longfellow
• George Nichols

Ben is a young family man with a wife and three year old daughter. But Ben is overly fond of drink. When his wife cannot take his drinking any longer he leaves for good. The wife becomes deranged and wanders the roads with her little girl until, finally, she even becomes separated from the child. The girl is adopted by a well-to-do farmer and his wife, who raise her as their own. One day when the girl has grown into a lovely young woman, she meets a prosperous and handsome older man through a strange twist of fate. They fall in love and are engaged to be married. On the very day of the wedding the poor mother wanders to the farmer's house. She sees a picture of her daughter as a three year old and recognizes her. Learning that the girl is to be married that day, the mother rushes to the church. When she arrives there she and the groom recognize one another, and immediately they both realize that Ben has nearly married his own daughter. But the shock is too much for the mother, and she dies in her husband's arms.