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For a Woman's Fair Name Synopsis
When Vivien and her husband, Pierce, come Into their new home, she comes face to face with her husband's secretary, Bolles, and a shadow is cast over her happiness. Bolles is a dope fiend, supported by the charity of his half-brother, McGregor, a man of splendid character, and holds over Vivien and McGregor the fear of scandal because of a trap he had laid for Pierce and Vivien, by which he succeeded in compromising them. McGregor meanwhile meets and falls in love with Alicia, Pierce's young sister, and Bolles, also being in love with her, threatens to reveal everything, in revenge. Through a peculiar combination of circumstances, Bolles, one night half crazed by the drug, shoots Alicia by mistake, and McGregor, to protect Vivien, who was at his home at the time of the shooting, confesses he is guilty. Pierce does not believe his friend is guilty and quietly investigates, confident that McGregor is shielding someone. He learns that it is Vivien, and heartbroken, he refuses to listen to her explanations and determines on a separation. Rolles, whose mind is giving way, sees the trouble he has wrought, and worried over Alicia's condition, which is serious, kills himself. Then the whole story comes out and, receiving proof of his wife's innocence in both instances. Pierce begs for forgiveness, and the two are reunited in complete understanding and love. Alicia recovers slowly, and McGregor is her constant attendant. Eventually the two find happiness when he declares his love, and they are married.
The Supreme Temptation Synopsis
Herbert DuBois, a young medical student in Paris, falls in love with and marries Annette, a grisette. They do not get along well, however, and he later secures a separation from her. He returns to America to find his father greatly worried over impending financial ruin. The blow falls and DuBois Senior kills himself, leaving Herbert to care for his mother and sister Lydia. Some time later he falls in love with Florence, the daughter of the family lawyer, and his friend Milton is fascinated by Lydia. M. Picard, a French milliner, pays Herbert a visit and informs him of Annette's death; he and Florence are then married. A year later, Herbert has been promoted to the head of the medical college and he learns that he is soon to become a father. Annette has moved to America. While DuBois is preparing to perform an autopsy on a young woman who died suddenly, he discovers, to his horror, that it is Annette and she is not dead, but in a cataleptic trance, a disease to which her family was subject. Then the supreme temptation comes to him to kill her with a slight movement of his scalpel and thus remove forever the dark past, but his better nature conquers, and after calling the others' attention to the body, he goes out. Restoratives are quickly applied and Annette comes back to life. Then follows an agony of suspense for Herbert. Will she live and spoil his present happiness, or will she die? After what seems eternity, one of the doctors informs him that Annette has died, and rushing up to his wife's room, he is stopped by the nurse who tells him that a son has been born to them.
"For a Woman's Fair Name" holds a slight edge in general audience appreciation, but "The Supreme Temptation" offers its own unique cult appeal.
Suggested Watch:
For a Woman's Fair Name