''Her Bounty'' is a 1914 American silent

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Joe De Grasse Joseph Louis De Grasse (May 4, 1873 – May 25, 1940) was a Canadians, Canadian film director. Born in Bathurst, New Brunswick, he was the elder brother of actor Sam De Grasse. Biography Joseph De Grasse had studied and was a first-class grad ...

and written by his wife

Ida May Park Ida May Park (December 28, 1879 – June 13, 1954) was an American screenwriter and film director of the silent era, in the early 20th century. She wrote for more than 50 films between 1914 and 1930, and directed 14 films between 1917 and 192 ...

, and featuring

Lon Chaney Leonidas Frank "Lon" Chaney (April 1, 1883 – August 26, 1930) was an American actor. He is regarded as one of the most versatile and powerful actors of cinema, renowned for his characterizations of tortured, often grotesque and affli ...

and Pauline Bush. This was the first film Chaney worked on with the filmmaking team of Joe De Grasse and Ida May Park, to be followed by many more. The film is now considered to be

lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

Plot

The horrific working conditions in her father's factory are brought to Ruth Braddon's attention by a letter she receives. Interested in social work, she asks her father to instruct his junior partner Fred Howard (Lon Chaney) to show Ruth around the facilities. Howard is Ruth's fiance. Ruth sees a young woman who has fainted from poor ventilation, and speaks to a young male employee (David Hale) who asks Fred Howard for better working conditions, but Howard simply orders the man to get back to work. Ruth tells Hale she will speak privately to her father about the situation. Unbeknownst to Ruth, Hale is trying to get himself a raise to enable him to marry a girl named Bessie Clay. Later Ruth goes to visit Hale at his tenement building located in a squalid section of town. She falls in love with him, and breaks off her engagement to the cold-hearted Fred Howard. Ruth discovers a letter Hale has written to her father, asking him for a raise specifically so that he may marry Bessie Clay. Ruth had not known that Hale already had a fiance. Not wanting to interfere with Bessie's happiness, Ruth breaks off her budding relationship with Hale, saying as an excuse that she cannot marry beneath her, while secretly she still loves the man.

Cast

* Pauline Bush as Ruth Braddon * Joe King as David Hale *

as Fred Howard *

Beatrice Van Beatrice Van (born Beatrice Abbott; August 8, 1890 – July 4, 1983) was an American silent film actress. She was also a screenwriter for both silent and sound films. Biography Beatrice was born to Joseph and Beatrice Abbott in Omaha, Nebr ...

as Bessie Clay * William B. Robbins

Reception

Motion Picture News wrote "A fine drama and a very appropriate Sunday release....Pauline Bush and Lon Chaney are the principals." Moving Picture World wrote "A sympathetic story of sacrifice, nicely presented."

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0004069, title=Her Bounty 1914 films Silent American drama films 1914 short films American silent short films American black-and-white films 1914 drama films Lost American films Films directed by Joseph De Grasse Universal Pictures short films 1914 lost films Lost drama films 1910s American films