The Taint of Madness (1914)

movie

Country: USA
Genres: Drama, Short
Release: 1914-05-16
Director: Norval MacGregor
Writers: Malcolm Douglas
Language: None | English
Stars: William Scott , Margaret Allen , Harry Lonsdale , Joseph Hazelton , Lillian Leighton
Runtime: min
Awards: N/A
AKA: The Taint of Madness (United States of America) , The Taint of Madness
Plot: Richard Davidge, an artist, appears at a summer resort with Grace Hartley, an orphaned heiress, just as she meets with an accident. She appreciates his services as a rescuer, so much so, that acquaintance ripens into affection. Davidge tells her of his love for her, but she discovers him, and the morning after his protestations be finds a letter from her in which she tells him that she has gone away and that he must never attempt to see her again. Grace goes back to her lonely estate, where she lives with a retinue of servants and tries to forget Davidge, Her insane brother she accounts an insurmountable barrier to her happiness in marriage. About this time the doctor in charge of the asylum writes Grace that her brother is acting in a rational manner, and gives his expert opinion that he can be safely taken home. She goes after him, but on the way back in their touring car, Harry suddenly becomes violent. Arriving at home, he develops new frenzied fancies, and it requires the full force of servants to keep him under surveillance. He has the cunning of a maniac, however, and when the servant is deceived by his seeming lapse into sleep, and leaves the room, Harry jumps for the barred window and throws the lace curtain against the flame of the light. Almost instantly the room is in a blaze, and he tries to escape by the barred window, but is caught. He shrieks for aid, and the smell of smoke arouses the household. Grace succeeds in gaining an entrance, but it is too late. She is overcome by the smoke and falls in a swoon beside her dead brother. Davidge, who has not heeded Grace's injunction, follows her to her home and arrives there just in time. He finds the dead man and the girl unconscious beside him. He gathers Grace in his arms and heroically saves her. She is carried unconscious into the house of Judge Downing, the executor of her mother's estate. She is restored to consciousness, and Davidge calls on her the next day, but finds that she is still obdurate. She declares that the taint of madness in her family precludes such a thing as the thought of marriage. At this point the Judge comes into the room, and, overhearing the sacrificial declaration of Glace, informs her that Harry is not her brother, but a child that was adopted by her family when she was a baby. With this knowledge divulged, there is nothing to interfere with Grace's happiness, and she bestows upon Davidge the joy of the life that he has saved.
IMDB:tt1247300