The Leper's Coat (1914)
The wife chafes at life in her husband's sanatorium where she is ever exposed to infectious diseases. The friend is a bachelor. Fearing to enter the hot-bed of life-killing germs, he invites the physician and wife to his apartment for dinner. The physician is called away on a case and the wife is left alone with a friend. She confides to the friend her horror of life in the sanatorium. She breaks down and makes overtures to him, asking him to take her away. The friend refuses to listen. Shortly afterward the friend calls at the sanatorium to consult the physician about his health. The doctor tells him that he must dress warmer, and sends his wife upstairs for an overcoat. She is gone longer than might be expected, but presently returns with an overcoat. The friend puts it on and goes home. In his apartment he removes the coat and reads the name of the owner over the inside pocket. The name he reads is George Earl. George Earl is a leper, who is being treated at the sanatorium. His case has been given wide publicity. A terrible fear that he is infected takes hold of the friend. His servants hear of it and flee from the house. In the meantime the wife realizes what she has done, and she weeps through the night. She sees the friend leave a note at the sanatorium. It is addressed to her husband. In it the friend says that he is going into the country and that if symptoms of the disease appear upon him he will return and kill the physician. The wife confesses her act to the physician, and he takes after the friend. In the meantime, the friend's mind is all but overbalanced with fear. He becomes delirious and runs through the streets, telling the horrible secret to all that he is a leper. The friend comes to the house of a Christian Scientist. She takes him in, and, unafraid, cares for him. The physician finds him, and in order to quiet him, tells the friend that the coat was not the leper's, but that his wife simply wrote the name in it. Time passes. The friend recovers and marries the Christian Scientist. The physician writes him, telling him that it was actually the leper's coat which he wore. The thought is expressed in the sub-title that science has proven that fear of disease will produce its symptoms more surely than contagion, and that thought governs the body.
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GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Phillips Smalley | Director |
| Lois Weber | Director |
| Lois Weber | Writer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Lois Weber | |
| Phillips Smalley | |
| Rupert Julian | |
| Jeanie Macpherson |
