The Tree of Knowledge (1912)
The Watkins family consists of father, mother and son. The father is a railroad magnate and wizard of finance; the mother is an indulgent, capricious social butterfly, and the son is an unguarded plant left to grow wild in the soil of luxury. When the inevitable day of reckoning comes the boy, headstrong and defiant, rebels at his father's authority, and leaves home. From being a gay young spendthrift, he descends to the ladder of poverty. The parents are remorseful and unhappy because of their lost son. Accidentally Watkins, Sr., reads an account of a great scientist who, wearied with the emptiness of wealth, went out to study and labor among the poor. The idea fascinates him and he decides to emulate the scientist's example. Disguised as a common laborer Watkins, Sr., rubs elbows with the forlorn, weary, down-and-out wrecks of life. Among them, eventually, he finds his son, who, hopeless and desperate, has determined to end it all. A reconciliation takes place, and the boy, having tasted the bitter dregs of the cup of folly, decides to make a man of himself. Each has learned the great lesson of life, and are the better for it, and the two turn homeward together.
All Releases
Domestic
–
–
International
–
–
Worldwide
–
–
GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| George L. Cox | Director |
| George L. Cox | Writer |
| William Nicholas Selig | Producer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Walter Roberts | |
| Winifred Greenwood | |
| John Sherman | |
| T. Jerome Lawler |
