A Modern Portia - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Isabel Vincent, a successful and charming woman lawyer, is called by her client, Mrs. Norman, to draw up a will, leaving her fortune to her niece, Helen. That there may be no question about Mrs. Norman's soundness of mind at the time of ...See moreIsabel Vincent, a successful and charming woman lawyer, is called by her client, Mrs. Norman, to draw up a will, leaving her fortune to her niece, Helen. That there may be no question about Mrs. Norman's soundness of mind at the time of the drawing of the will. Dr. Carpel is called to testify to her mental fitness. After the document has been duly signed, Isabel starts for her home in a motor car and is injured in an accident. When taken to the hospital she is attended by Dr. Carpel, who soon falls in love with her. Not long after her recovery they are engaged to be married. But Isabel sees only one side of the doctor's character. He is a gambler and so heavily in debt that he is threatened with disgrace at his club. At this critical time he receives an urgent message, calling him to the home of Mrs. Norman, who is dying. He goes to a desk to write a prescription and his eye falls on the box in which valuable papers and money are kept. Unable to resist the temptation, he steals the contents of the box, but in so doing his actions are reflected in a mirror and Mrs. Norman sees the theft. The last moments of her life are spent in writing a note declaring that she saw Dr. Carpel appropriate the money. In searching for the money Helen finds a flower in the desk similar to the one worn by the doctor on the day of his last visit. She hurries to Isabel for advice; an investigation is commenced and the young woman lawyer is forced to recognize the guilt of the man she has intended to marry within a few weeks. Bravely sinking personal feeling in a larger sense of duty to her client, Isabel presses the case in court and suffers the agony of being the means of securing her lover's conviction. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less