A Heart Awakened (1915)
Dr. George Graham returns home to find his wife, Betty, absent from dinner. Betty has fallen in with a pleasure-loving set, and has come to spend more and more of her time away from home. He finds a letter in his office from a charitable institution, asking him to take upon himself the care of at least one poor person in bad health, In the slums he finds a woman suffering with a serious illness, but forced to work to support her infant, and undertakes to care for her. In the course of time he finds that Betty is becoming careless of conventional things. On one occasion he asks her to remain at home with him, but her reply is that she has already been asked out and cannot disappoint her friends. After Graham has gone, Betty receives a phone message that the evening's affair is postponed, and she hurries to the office on the first floor of the house to tell Graham that she has decided not to go. She is outraged when she finds that Graham has left the house. When he returns after midnight, he finds Betty indignant at his having gone out. Graham tries to explain, but Betty will not listen. Graham reads in the paper that "Studio Trots" are the latest sensation. These somewhat questionable affairs are given by members of the artist colony who are really "near-artists" and who take this means of gaining popularity and advertising. On one of his visits to his patient, he is surprised by a gathering of women at the door, talking in whispers. From one he learns that the unfortunate mother is dead, and that they are in a quandary as to what is to become of the baby. One poor neighbor offers to take the child, but when Graham has gone to her home with her, she is met with a refusal from her husband to assume the extra expense represented. Graham takes the child home, intending to take it to an asylum. When he reaches home, he finds that he is called at once for an operation and must keep the baby overnight. He asks the maid to attend to the child, but that domestic flatly refuses to give up her evening out. In the argument which follows, Betty enters and is horrified when she learns that Graham has dared to bring the baby into the house. Her indignation is unbounded when he suggests that she remain home and care for it. She is going to Cuyler Schofield's studio dance. This is the first that Graham has heard of Betty's interest in the studio affairs. He leaves for the hospital. Betty leaves a note in his office, saying that she has gone, and then hurries upstairs to dress. She is in the midst of her preparations when the baby wakes and begins to cry. She stands it as long as she can, and then goes into Graham's room to quiet it. She is surprised when, with only a few caresses, grudgingly given by Betty, it falls asleep. She is nearly ready to go when she hears the infant's cry again. This time Betty is startled. She rushes into the other room, and is relieved when she finds that it is only exercising its lungs. Betty starts to go, but unknown even to herself, the baby has struck a hidden cord within her. She can't leave it in such apparent agony. She soothes it back to slumber. Then she places it on the bed, goes to the door, stopping to look back at it as she turns out the light. Hours later Graham returns from the hospital, tired out. He goes into the office, and there finds her note. It tells him that she has gone to the studio, that she does not intend to be dictated to by him, and he is at liberty to apply for a divorce. Graham takes her at her word. He writes his attorney a letter instructing him to bring proceedings against his wife. He is going out to mail the letter, when he remembers the baby. He goes up the stairs and enters his own room. There, on the bed. he finds the child, nestled on the arm of his wife, both fast asleep.
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GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| George Terwilliger | Director |
| Siegmund Lubin | Producer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Earl Metcalfe | |
| Ormi Hawley | |
| Eleanor Barry | |
| William H. Turner |
