The Message (1914)
Carter has inherited a taste for drink. His wife is the only influence which keeps him straight. He accuses her unjustly of meeting another man, really her outcast brother, whom she is ashamed to acknowledge, and they separate. Then Carter becomes a dipsomaniac. Steve, Mrs. Carter's brother, is also a victim of drink. It happens that at the same time the two men are suffering from the effects of a long spree. Steve, on the street, is listening to an evangelist, who hands him a tract. He shoves the paper into his pocket and wanders off in search of alcohol to satisfy his craving. He chances to come by Charter's house just as his brother-in-law is kicking his valet out of the door, for keeping the whiskey bottle away from him. Seeing Carter help himself to the liquor, and unable to stand it, Steve enters the house, snatches the bottle from his hand, and drains down all but a few drops. These last crumbs of comfort he returns to Carter, and the two men, recognizing in each other victims of the same weakness, become sympathetic. Steve pulls the tract out of his pocket, and in his soothed state, the words take hold on his emotions. He shares the message with Carter who is similarly affected. Later, the derelict persuades his sister to return with him to her husband, and is about to slip away without revealing his identity, when Carter insists upon his remaining. He then learns their relationship and how he has misjudged his wife. In making Steve a member of the family he ensures his own salvation and that of his delinquent brother-in-law.
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GenresDrama
Short
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