The Crucible of Fate - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Dr. Ross Lowell's professional duties are so exacting that he is obliged to somewhat neglect Cecile, his vivacious girl-wife. She suffers innumerable disappointments in broken engagements and grows somewhat dissatisfied with her lot. ...See moreDr. Ross Lowell's professional duties are so exacting that he is obliged to somewhat neglect Cecile, his vivacious girl-wife. She suffers innumerable disappointments in broken engagements and grows somewhat dissatisfied with her lot. Through Maude Leigh, her chum, she meets Richard Burnett, an actor and matinee idol, and is flattered by his marked interest in her. Maude gives Cecile a leading part in an amateur theatrical she is giving, and Burnett, infatuated with Cecile, agrees to direct the production of the play. Cecile displays undreamed of talent in her emotional part, and Ross, greatly pleased and proud of his wife, sees no danger in Burnett's frequent calls. The inevitable happens Cecile's head is turned; she grieves over a lost career and is finally persuaded to elope with Burnett. Deserting her little child and her husband, she enters the theatrical field, which she imagines is her real sphere. Five years pass and Cecile has attained the dazzling height to which she has aspired, namely that of great theatrical fame, but her life is one long regret. Burnett, still her leading man, has become dissipated, coarse and ill-tempered. At the close of a successful season they go on the road. Cecile's old home town, in which Lowell is still living, is on their itinerary, and at first she refuses to go, fearful at the possibility of meeting her husband, but her contract is binding, and desirous of once more seeing her child, she decides to dare the consequences. Ross, who has followed Cecile's career, sees her name on the playbills. On the opening night he goes to the playhouse, armed, and determined to mete out vengeance to the wrecker of his home. But fate intervenes. There is an explosion on the stage, quickly followed by all the horrors of a fire and panic. Ross leaps on the stage and forces Burnett, at the point of a pistol, to lead him to Cecile's dressing room, where she is found unconscious and rescued by her husband. Burnett, driven insane by fear, perishes in the fire. Cecile is crippled for life, but in the love of her child and loyal husband again finds peace and happiness. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less