The Springtime of the Spirit - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

On his deathbed, John Tilden, who lost his wife years ago, tells his daughter, Dora, that he is sending her to Howard Potter, who is now living in New York, and who also loved her mother in her girlhood days. After the funeral a tag is ...See moreOn his deathbed, John Tilden, who lost his wife years ago, tells his daughter, Dora, that he is sending her to Howard Potter, who is now living in New York, and who also loved her mother in her girlhood days. After the funeral a tag is pinned onto the child's coat and she is sent by train from San Francisco to New York. When Dora and Potter meet in the station in New York, she, with childish impulsiveness, throws her arms around his neck, and Potter, who has associated with more or less gay women, is particularly pleased with her naive charms. Paul, the younger brother of Potter, arrives home from college and eventually falls in love with Dora, who returns his affection. They plan to tell the older brother on Dora's eighteenth birthday of their intention to get married. Four years have now passed and the doctor, who attended Tilden on his deathbed, mails the two letters which the dying man had given him with instructions that they be sent in time to reach Dora's home on her eighteenth birthday. Dora's birthday arrives and her eyes distend in surprise when she receives a letter written in her father's handwriting. It tells her that when her father won her mother away from Potter that he and Potter agreed that if the union was blessed with a daughter that the latter should marry her. To this agreement Dora's mother also assented. Dora shows the missive to Paul, who is at first rebellious, but when he thinks how his older brother had cared for him he bows his head in submission. The other letter is received by Potter, and it informs him that the wife he asked for is now delivered to him. Potter does not receive the letter in a serious spirit at first, but when he reflects that he is now past forty years old he begins to feel the need of woman's comforting presence and realizes that he loves Dora. The young girl accepts his offer of marriage, and preparations are made for the wedding. The day for the nuptials arrives, and as Potter sits in a retrospective mood before the fireplace, he sees in the flames his past associations with women of rather uncertain honesty and chastity. At the end of his reverie, Potter asks himself, "Am I worthy of the girl I am about to marry?" Just then he hears Dora bidding a last farewell to Paul, and he realizes the situation in an instant. At the church the wedding march is being played. Dora is leaning on the arm of one of Potter's friends who is to give her away. Paul, the best man, is nearby. They march slowly up the aisle. They reach the altar and halt. No bridegroom is yet in sight. A messenger boy appears and hands the minister a note. He speaks to the best man, and to the amazement of the assembled guests, Paul steps to the side of the bride, and they are married. Alone, Potter thinks of the happy future of Paul and Dora, knowing that his sacrifice was the only way to bring it about. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less