Duty Versus Revenge - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

A fireman's happy home. The wife and husband, with their little daughter, to all appearances are perfectly happy. As the hour for him to report for duty nears, the husband kisses his wife and baby good-bye and leaves the house. Her work ...See moreA fireman's happy home. The wife and husband, with their little daughter, to all appearances are perfectly happy. As the hour for him to report for duty nears, the husband kisses his wife and baby good-bye and leaves the house. Her work finished, the wife goes out, takes a seat on a bench nearby and reads, the little girl playing about. A sporty looking man comes along, sits on the bench beside the woman and starts reading a paper. As the child passes by, the man offers her some peanuts, hoping by this means to strike up a conversation with the woman. He succeeds, they talk awhile, then visit an ice cream parlor, the man making himself very agreeable. A short time passes, and returning to the modest home we find conditions altered. The housework and the child are neglected. The sporty chap enters and is greeted affectionately by the faithless woman. They imbibe freely from a bottle of liquor, are sitting on the sofa, when footsteps warn them of the husband's return. The sport runs into an adjoining room, the fireman enters, notices his wife's nervousness, also detects the odor of liquor. When he sees two glasses on the table, his suspicions are aroused and he accuses his wife of being unfaithful. She denies it, but by her actions clearly shows her guilt. The husband scolds, threatens and finally goes to the engine house down hearted. Returning home for the day, he hints that his wife and her lover have looted his home of all the money and everything else of value, leaving him only their little girl. A kind hearted neighbor generously offers to care for the little one if the father can arrange matters. Meanwhile, the wife and her companion are occupying a cheap furnished flat. They have just returned from the theater and are eating supper when the building is discovered on fire. The woman screams, endeavors to escape by the stairs, but is driven back by the flames. A fireman appears, grabs the woman to save her, looks at her and recognizes in the woman his former wife. He replaces her, pushes the lover to one side, and making sure that both will perish in the flames, walks out. To his companions he tells that no one is inside, but his conscience troubling him, he enters the building, takes his wife in one arm, her lover in the other and drags them out in safety. In front of the fire house the husband is observed, resigned to his position. The child is with him as his former wife appears. She begs to be allowed to return, but he casts her aside, tells her that she was saved not because she was his wife, but that he was compelled as a fireman to save any human beings caught in a burning building; that duty, not affection, directed his movements. He turns her aside, takes the little child in his arms and passes inside the building. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less