The Gang Leader's Reform - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Chuck Westman was that type of plug ugly and strong-arm man at one time prevalent in the city of New York, but thanks to the strenuous measures on the part of the police department, now almost, if not quite, extinct. A gang leader by ...See moreChuck Westman was that type of plug ugly and strong-arm man at one time prevalent in the city of New York, but thanks to the strenuous measures on the part of the police department, now almost, if not quite, extinct. A gang leader by reason of his abnormal brute strength, he held sway in a section of the lower East Side, obtaining funds to support himself and adherents in idleness by intimidating inoffensive merchants and other residents of the section to purchase tickets to fake balls and picnics, and which they gladly bought realizing that otherwise they would meet with physical violence. Long immunity from punishment due to political pull, the result of his controlling and influencing a large number of votes. Chuck became callous and unmindful of the fact that just punishment must sooner or later be his lot. These conditions also permitted a wide-open town, and in the days when the lid was off gambling places still existed in the Metropolis, and it was in one of these that John Stone, a society and business man to all intents and purposes, but in reality a sharp and card cheat, was caught at his tricks and exposed and thrashed in the presence of a number of friends, who formerly held him in high esteem. Burning with resentment and not possessing the moral and physical courage to inflict a punishment he thought due his assailant, he sought out Chuck Westman in his haunts, to enlist his services in obtaining revenge. Negotiations were satisfactorily made, but the cost was high and Chuck Westman, secure in the belief that he could easily earn the price offered without suffering any consequences, undertook, with the assistance of some of his gang, to administer a beating to Richard Harding, a wealthy young club man who had exposed and thrashed John Stone. But little did Stone or Westman reckon on the consequences, for Harding, a well trained athlete, when assaulted more than takes care of himself and with the assistance of nearby police puts his assailants to flight. Harding possessing wealth and influence and also a determination to prevent further crimes of a similar nature, visits the chief of police and identifies the man who committed the assault upon him as Chuck Westman, by means of the Rogues' Gallery. An unknown or less determined citizen might not have received the consideration shown Harding and once again Chuck Westman might have gone scot free, but in this case it was policy to make an example of someone and therefore Chuck Westman finally met his just deserts. Captured in the rear of a low dive. Chuck after a violent fight temporarily eludes the detectives sent out to make his capture and seeks refuge in his own home; but orders have been given to these New York sleuths, "don't fail to bring in your man," and Chuck is finally captured on the roof of his home, after making a determined resistance. Chuck's family consists of his mother, wife and infant child, who witnessing Chuck's capture, realize that what they had long expected has now reached a definite conclusion. Chuck had never shown the slightest consideration for his family, but a woman's heart is a peculiar organ and, notwithstanding the neglect, abuse and beatings both mother and wife had been subject to, this touch was a son and a husband and their agony was just as strong as though he was a respected, law-abiding citizen. We pass over the trial, conviction and sentence of Chuck Westman, but fifteen years later he is discharged from prison, an aged, broken-spirited man whose associates and political friends having deserted him when he could no longer give value received for their efforts. Hungry and with no place to turn, driven from pillar to post, he is munching on a crust of bread taken from a refuse can when a young girl, noticing his condition, insists that he take her lunch. Long confinement and famine have made Chuck a weakling and with the assistance of a passerby his young benefactress insists upon taking him to her home. Chuck's family in the meantime have prospered; they were enabled to remove to a more respectable neighborhood. As the child crew up into a comely industrious girl her added earnings made the little family more than comfortable. It was to this home that Chuck's daughter led him, for it was she who found Chuck starving and ill. The past had all been forgotten and forgiven long ago. Chuck had had ample opportunity to reflect on the error of his ways while in prison and with an honest trade, learned during his incarceration, and a respectable and loving family to encourage him, he became and is now, what he never had been, a hard-working, honest and respected citizen. Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less