Value Beyond Price (1910)
Captain Smith sails away on his vessel for a trip around South America and through the Pacific, leaving behind him his wife and little girl, whom he dearly loves. The ship is reported lost with all on board, with the exception of a cabin boy who is picked up in mid-ocean. The captain's wife struggles to support her child, but owing to her rapidly failing health she fights a losing battle with poverty. One by one her valued possessions find their way to the pawnshop, where the kind-hearted old pawnbroker Levy becomes interested in the sad-faced woman and the pretty child, who never seem able to redeem any of their possessions. The last article of value left in Mrs. Smith's possession is her wedding ring, and Levy refuses to take this. Instead he offers her help, which the widow proudly refuses. She insists that she can go out and get work. Levy seeing that he can help in no other way, offers to care for little Marie, and to this the mother finally gives her consent. Half in jest, Levy gives to the mother a pawn ticket for the little girl, which he fills out to read that "a precious jewel, value beyond price," has been left with him and can be redeemed "at any time." The mother leaves the little one in Levy's care and upon reaching home and finding herself mortally stricken, she puts the pawn ticket he has given her in an envelope which she entrusts to a friendly janitress, to be given into no other hands than those of her husband should it be that he is not dead. And he is not. He has been cast up on a fertile island in the South Seas, where he lives a Crusoe-like existence for ten years, and incidentally finds buried treasure which makes him rich. He is finally rescued by a passing steamer and brought back to his own country, only to find that in his absence his wife has died, and no one knows the fate of his child. He only finds, in an envelope addressed to him in the hand of his dying wife, a pawn ticket for a "precious jewel" which she has pledged. Thinking the jewel to be some gift of his to his wife, which she desired him to have as a remembrance, he goes to the pawnshop and is there waited upon by a sweet-faced girl of fifteen to whom he is at once attracted. The girl is unable to find any article in the shop with a ticket corresponding in number to the ticket which the Captain carries, and appeals to her foster-father, Levy, to help her find the gentleman's goods. Levy at once recognizes the ticket as the one he gave for his little adopted daughter. Although he dislikes to surrender the one joy of his life, he finally decides to reunite father and daughter. The latter have the old pawnbroker make his home with them, so the reunion brings happiness to all.
All Releases
Domestic
–
–
International
–
–
Worldwide
–
–
GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
There is no release data available for this title.
