Summary
From the very cradle, Tom Bain exhibited an almost preternatural facility with language, a silver tongue so compelling his parents envisioned him a successor to the legendary orator Chauncey Depew. This nascent gift blossomed through his collegiate years, morphing into an irresistible persuasive force, capable of extracting altruism even from the most impoverished, as evidenced by his improbable success in selling Liberty Bonds within the confines of a poor house. Yet, Bain’s true vocational ardor lay in mechanical innovation; he conceived a revolutionary tunneling apparatus designed for autonomous subterranean transit. Leveraging his formidable rhetorical prowess, he successfully divested the rights to this invention to a prominent manufacturing conglomerate. Alas, the machine proved to be a spectacular failure, a triumph of concept over practical engineering. Rather than severing ties, the astute firm, recognizing the inherent, albeit misdirected, genius of his salesmanship, repurposed him into their marketing division. Thus began a picaresque odyssey of professional exploits and personal growth, culminating in a serendipitous reunion and matrimonial union with Peggy, his erstwhile college sweetheart. Their unconventional nuptials unfold within the sterile yet strangely romantic confines of a hospital, a testament to the circuitous, often unexpected, pathways of fate and affection.
Synopsis
Tom Bain was born with a tongue so glib that his parents, early in his career, predicted he would be a second Chauncey Depew. In college it developed until he was capable of selling Liberty Bonds in a poor house. But Tom was ambitious to be an inventor and so built a tunneling machine that "would start at one side of a mountain and propel itself through to the other without man's assistance." His gift of gab sold the rights to the machine to a big manufacturing firm, but they soon found it worthless and instead of building machines, Tom was placed on the payroll as a salesman. And then, after an exciting series of adventures, Tom finally wins the hand of Peggy, whom he had met and courted in his college days. The wedding occurs in a hospital where the couple meet accidentally as patients.
Review Excerpt
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In the bustling, burgeoning landscape of early 20th-century American cinema, where narratives often mirrored the nation’s fervent optimism and burgeoning industrial might, a peculiar gem like Gift o' Gab (1917) emerges from the archives, whispering tales not of grand adventure or tragic romance, but of the sheer, unadulterated power of persuasion. Directed with an eye for the comedic and the human, this silent film, penned by H. Tipton Steck, offers a delightful, if somewhat quaint, explora..."
