''The Abandonment'' is a 1916 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 Donald MacDonald starring

Helene Rosson Helene M. Rosson (June 14, 1897 – May 5, 1985), also known as Hellene M. Rosson, was an American silent film actress. Biography Hellene M. Rosson, born June 14, 1897, was the sixth child and third daughter of jockey and horse trainer Arthur ...

Forrest Taylor Edwin Forrest Taylor (December 29, 1883 – February 19, 1965) was an American character actor whose artistic career spanned six different decades, from silents through talkies to the advent of color films. Early years Taylor was born in B ...

and

Harry von Meter Harry von Meter (March 20, 1871 – June 2, 1956; sometimes credited Harry van Meter) was an American silent film actor. He starred in about 200 films in the period from 1912 through 1929. He retired from acting just as sound films were beginni ...

. The feature-length film was produced at Mutual's studios in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

. It was part of

Mutual Film Corporation Mutual Film Corporation was an early American film conglomerate that produced some of Charlie Chaplin's greatest comedies. Founded in 1912, it was absorbed by Film Booking Offices of America, which evolved into RKO Pictures. Founding Mutual ...

's Masterpicture series, which were based on works of prominent fiction; the story was written by Kenneth B. Clarke. ''The Abandonment'' was released June 15, 1916. The 1916 film publications ''

Motography ''Motography'' was an American film journal that was first published in 1909 and ran until mid-1918. The magazine was published in 1909 and was originally named ''The Nickelodeon'',"Motography." The Bioscope. 9 Feb. 2009. Web. 4 Nov. 2015 http:// ...

'' and ''

The Moving Picture World The ''Moving Picture World'' was an influential early trade journal for the American film industry, from 1907 to 1927. An industry powerhouse at its height, ''Moving Picture World'' frequently reiterated its independence from the film studios. I ...

'' both described the production's plot as "unusual" and "original". Rosson, at age 17, was already an experienced film actress when she was cast to costar in the film. ''Motography'' called her performance "refreshing".

Cast

(E. Forrest Taylor) as Dr. Edmund B. Stewart *

as Emily Thurston *

as Benson Heath

Plot

Dr. Edmund B. Stewart is a talented young physician who is working hard to build both his professional reputation and practice. He is engaged to Emily Thurston, whose father is said to be wealthy. The Thurstons move in the best social circles and Emily is congratulated because her fiancé is a successful man. Emily loves Edmund, but is unhappy at the amount of time he spends working at his practice. Stewart's work schedule has caused her to miss many social engagements. Emily grows resentful that his dedication to duty has curtailed so much of her social life; she starts spending time with Benson Heath. Heath, who has no real job, is attracted to Emily because he believes her family is quite wealthy. He has recently lost a considerable amount of money through bad investments. Heath convinces Emily to break her engagement to Edmund Stewart and asks her to marry him. Stewart, who had been driving himself to work harder, is at the point of exhaustion. Emily and Heath's marriage is the final blow to his constitution; he becomes ill. His doctors advise him to go to the country for recuperation. On the journey, Stewart sees two tramps who appear to be quite happy; he decides to see if this type of life might make him happy also. He takes off his tie, tears off his shirt collar and falls in with the tramps. The tramps later steal Stewart's money and then he has no recourse but to remain a tramp. Six months after her marriage, Emily's father dies and it is learned he was not a wealthy man as was assumed. Heath becomes quite angry when he learns that his father in law left no large inheritance. He passes a check on his already overdrawn bank account, uses the money for gambling, and then takes Emily away to avoid being arrested. The couple moves West to a house in a desolate location. The area is deserted enough that two tramps show up and set up camp not for from the home. The tramps find their way into the house, planning to loot it. Their plans are foiled by Heath's returning home, so they hide in a closet. He is drunk and when Emily tries to take the bottle away from him, he erupts into a rage. Hearing the noise, the tramps wonder what is happening, so they carefully open the closet door a bit to see. Heath is choking Emily and the tramps are horrified at the sight. One of them bolts out of the closet and wrestles with Heath to free Emily from his grasp. As the two men struggle, Heath's gun discharges and he is fatally shot. The tramps flee, but are apprehended by the sheriff. Stewart, who has been living in the tramp camp, comes up to try helping his friends. When he enters the house he sees Heath lying dead on the floor and Emily also lying there, but in a dead faint. Stewart thinks Emily has shot her husband so he tells the sheriff he is responsible for Heath's death. When Emily regains consciousness, she tells the sheriff that Stewart was not the man who struggled with her husband. As Stewart is being released by the sheriff, Emily recognizes him and tells him she always loved him; no charges were filed in the death of Heath as the sheriff's opinion is that Heath got what he deserved.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abandonment, The 1916 films 1916 drama films Silent American drama films American black-and-white films American silent feature films 1910s American films