The Girl Who Feared Daylight (1916)
Mary, a girl of eighteen, lives with her uncle, Dreen, in a cabin in the mountains. From her infancy she has been warned never to expose her eyes to the light of day else she will become blind. She has obeyed her uncle implicitly by always remaining in a darkened room. With a party of gay young people, Frank Forrest is spending a holiday at a luxurious hunting "camp" not far from the girl's cabin. Viola Dexter, a girl of millions, is in love with Frank, regarding the love making of Bruce Milton, of the same party, with indifference. Bruce plans to prevent Frank, who really does not care for Viola, from, marrying her. On one of the hunting expeditions Bruce maneuvers until he separates from the rest of the party and, being carefully screened, fires at Frank. He merely wounds him in the shoulder. This sends Frank hurrying to Mary's cabin for aid. Her uncle is away on a long hunting trip. Mary bathes Frank's wound and binds it. Under his persuasion Mary tells her life story and the reason she fears daylight. Years before in the same cabin lived her mother and father, the former ill and half-crazed, the latter prey to sudden heart attacks. The mother tries to revive him and then rushes to the door in the hope of seeing some chance of help. There is not a soul in sight. Nearly mad with grief the mother gets on her knees and blasphemes against the sun and the maker of it. Hours later Mary tells Frank, the men returned and found her mother in a faint across the threshold and her father dead. She explains that her mother, when her baby was horn, swore that the child should never see daylight, and when on her death, Mary's uncle came, he, too, carried out the same vow. Frank determines to help her all he can. Frank calls upon Mary a number of times and soon falls in love with her. He tells her that he has arranged for an eye specialist to come and examine her. Her uncle's hunting trip has come to an end, and burdened with game, he sits by his campfire on the last night in the forest. He takes a flimsy document out of a stout envelope and pores over the contents. It is a crude form of will, evidently written by Mary's mother, entrusting her life's savings, three bonds, to her brother to be kept for Mary. There may be a reason, as Frank suspects, for the old man's idea in keeping Mary from the light. The uncle gloats over the three bonds, wondering how long Mary will live and keep them from being really his. Next day the society people leave on a long tramp. Viola is disappointed because at the last minute Frank declares he must go to the village. In reality, it is to meet Dr. Trenchard, the eye specialist. Meanwhile the uncle has returned, and learns that Mary's unusual happiness is due to the fact that Frank, whom she says is her lover, is due with an eye doctor. The uncle is insane with rage and dashes off to encounter Frank. They meet and the uncle's gun goes off, wounding him. The society people hear the gun go off. And Mary hears it louder than anyone else. She snatches up a gun, flings the door open wide and stands for a second blinking, blinded by the sun. Then she goes off to save her lover. The uncle has flung Frank from him. The doctor has long since been overcome. The big gun is aimed at Frank. Mary points her gun at the old man. But she does not have to kill him, for the tramping party breaks in upon the scene and save the situation. Dreen, now weak and mortally wounded, collapses as they support him. Mary flies to Frank's arms. Dying, the uncle is asked why he raised the girl in darkness. He says: "Starving for light, I thought she would die." And when he hands the three bonds to Mary, it is clear to Frank that avarice prompted the old man's cruelty to her. She sees as well as anyone. Not many nights later, Mary is introduced to Frank's friends at the camp and she gets her first glimpse of the life that will soon be hers for all time.
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GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Lucius Henderson | Director |
| Arthur J. Levy | Writer |
| Norbert Lusk | Writer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Mary Fuller | |
| Edna Pendleton | |
| Clifford Grey | |
| Curtis Benton |
