For the Commonwealth (1915)

Ellis Mason, appointed assistant district attorney under Bell, is forced by Bell to overlook the fact that there are flagrant violations of the law in a certain dive. Mason takes advantage of Bell's temporary absence to raid the place, but the very man on whom Bell is dependent, a high church dignitary, a "pillar of society," owns the place and gets revenue from it. Mason's fearlessness is noted and appreciated by the Commonwealth Club, who nominate him for the district attorneyship. But the coterie of vice purveyors get busy. They secure the services of Clarice Adair, dancing girl and bunco steerer of the raided café, to lure Mason to her room on a well-feigned pretense. The couple are apprehended and Mason's candidacy discredited. His sweetheart is turned against him, because of his "proven" guilt, and his future darkened by the connection this affair will always have with his name. The dancing girl, conscience-stricken and desirous of clearing Mason, attempts to exonerate him, but is threatened by Bell with a long term of imprisonment tor perjury should she confess. Who Pays?

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GenresDrama Short