The Millinery Man (1915)
With a number of fashionables, Dick Devlin visits his fiancée in the small, exclusive town where her family is prominent. Ernestine, the girl, is self-willed and cruel in her exactions. At a church bazaar Ernestine shines, being the prettiest and wealthiest girl present. Nora Lyman, the little milliner of the town, goes to the bazaar to study the hats of the women, hoping to copy them. One of those hat-trimming matches is scheduled. The men are made to trim for a prize. Ernestine insists that Dick enter the contest and he good-naturedly enlists. By some accident Dick trims a hat that really looks like something. It takes the prize. Ernestine, to be perverse, demands that Dick set up a shop. If he really loves her he will actually become a milliner for a year and give his earnings to her pet scheme, a cemetery for dogs. Dick, dared by all, and really loving the girl, consents. The shop is established. Dick goes into the venture thoroughly. He has assistants, of course, but he is proprietor. Ernestine, to show her power, makes her women friends insist that Dick himself trim the hats they purchase. Dick does so, with laughable results. But the shop prospers so well that Nora Lyman is gradually reduced to failure. She hates the society shop and still more does she hate the man in charge of it. Nora goes to see what it is that makes the man milliner's hats sell. She mingles with the gay crowd and has only contempt for a man who could be a mere milliner. Alfred Ayres, a spineless poet, Ernestine's satellite, makes a slurring remark about Dick. Dick knocks him down and the calm of the little shop is shaken by wild confusion. Ernestine denounces Dick for his vulgar outburst and tears his ring from her finger. Nora doesn't hate him so much. The crowd overturn some of the most perishable hats and Nora saves them from destruction. She finds Dick looking at her. He thanks her for her service and she goes away. Nora's affairs are becoming serious. Her creditors are dunning for money, and she sees her customers drifting away. Her brave effort to be independent has failed. The postman delivers to Dick a stack of bills. The address on one envelope is blurred, but Dick gets others from the same firm. Dick reads a sharp letter to Nora Lyman threatening recourse to the law if a large bill for millinery supplies is not paid. He realizes that perhaps he has driven a woman out of business. Dick goes to the address and finds the little shop in charge of Nora. Dick realizes that his obedience to Ernestine's whim has harmed the little milliner and he tries to make amends. Nora will not accept money. Dick suggests that they go into business partnership. Nora consents and they pledge the success of the venture at tea in Nora's workroom. Nora, prettily dressed, is seen managing the shop, with Dick merely a silent partner. When Dick's father wires him to end his idling and come home to take his place in the firm, the question of leaving Nora comes up. Dick finds he can't leave her and Nora solves the difficulty by consenting to go with him always.
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Domestic
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International
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Worldwide
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GenresComedy
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Joseph Kaufman | Director |
| Norbert Lusk | Writer |
| Siegmund Lubin | Producer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Joseph Kaufman | |
| Ethel Clayton | |
| William H. Turner | |
| Mildred Gregory |
