Judge Dunn's Decision (1914)
Judge Dunn, in addition to commanding respect of the bar, has a social standing of the high order in the great city where he presides as a magistrate. He is a busy man, very much occupied with the duties of his position, so that his family largely take upon themselves the social obligations, are active factors in the dispensing of hospitality, and are always in the functions at the current call of society. Mrs. Dunn is a popular matron and her young lady daughter, Kate, follows in her footsteps as a frivolous society woman. They spend large sums on the latest and most daring clothes, and the mother is addicted strongly to the game of bridge. She becomes a confirmed gambler, and both mother and daughter are constant attendants at card parties. Judge Dunn is so fully occupied with the cares of office, that he does not understand these things. The chief factor of order in the Dunn mansion, is a clever and attractive second-maid, Anna Gregory, who supports her poor, old mother through her own efforts. She, constantly in association with all the feminine finery that her mistress and the daughter flaunt day and night, has a great longing to possess the things she cannot afford. While she lives in an atmosphere of extravagance, her own modest wages are frequently backward, and finally quite an accumulation is due her. Her poor mother must pay the rent for the humble home, and beseeches her daughter to bring the matter urgently before her mistress. As Mrs. Dunn spends her income up to the last cent for frivolous things, she is at her wits end to raise ready cash, even for such a needy case like this, but she loads the girl with gowns and fine feathers in lieu of real money. Of course, the poor girl appearing in this finery, excites suspicion in her own set, and it even attracts the attention of Judge Dunn. She leaves the secluded situation and secures a position in a department store where she is so well dressed and obliging, that she proves an unusually attractive employee, consequently courting criticism from her associates, and praise from her employer. In the interim, things are going from bad to worse with Mrs. Dunn in her extravagant ways of living, and her make-shifts to get ready money. Finally, she is so hard pressed to pay gambling debts, that she purloins her husband's diamond studs from the safe in the bedroom and pawns them. Then comes a night when the Judge must needs appear in full dress. He goes for his studs and finds them gone. Mrs. Dunn in terror throws suspicion upon Anna, her late maid. The insinuation cast out by Mrs. Dunn takes immediate root in the suspicious mind of the police, and Anna is arrested and confined in jail to await trial. The fact of her fine dresses has confirmed unpleasant rumor concerning the poor girl, so she has no calls in prison from her late associates. Her poor mother alone is left alone to bear the burden and the ignominy. In the interim, Judge Dunn gradually awakens to the fact that all is not well in his own home. This is intensified by the bitter cry of Anna's poor mother, who visits the Judge in Chambers, and tells him before he condemns her own daughter that he had better watch his own family, whose actions have not been above reproach. While the magistrate swallows his wrath, his suspicions are involuntarily quickened. Gambling debts are again pressing Mrs. Dunn. One evening the Judge returns home unduly early and happens to observe his wife make a draft upon the family safe. He hurriedly opens the safe after she closes it, and confirms the fact of the purloining and follows his wife to the pawn-brokers. She is hardly out of the pawn-shop before he is in and through his authority as a minion of the law secures the copy of her receipt and description of the goods. The next day poor Anna comes before the Judge in court. He dismisses her case, but orders her mother and herself to meet him in chambers and immediately 'phones to his own home, calling his wife and daughter. In the meantime detectives have produced another unwilling party in the form of a fast young man, who has been waiting on the Judge's daughter, Kate, and had at the same time attempted the downfall of Anna. This interesting quintet are summoned to the Judge's room, each ignorant of the coming of the other. Primarily, the Judge administers a severe castigation to the hard-faced young snob, who preys upon women and whose sense of decency is only confined to clothing himself in the latest fashion. Kate sees the falsity of his friendship and Anna is congratulated on her escape from such a whelp. The stern man of the law does not flinch then and there from upbraiding his own women folk and shows how their frivolity and extravagance came near ruining the life of a virtuous, hard-working girl. These evil idlers are forced to acknowledge their fault and apologize to poor Anna and her mother. Presumably the Dunn family's reformation begins at home, while Anna and her mother bravely begin life anew with an unstained name.
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Domestic
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GenresDrama
Short
IMDbPro
See more details at IMDbPro
| Filmmakers | Role |
|---|---|
| Edward LeSaint | Director |
| Mrs. Owen Bronson | Writer |
| William Nicholas Selig | Producer |
| Cast | Role |
|---|---|
| Al W. Filson | |
| Guy Oliver | |
| Stella Razeto | |
| Eugenie Besserer |
